NetTeller arrests

[2Tone]

Whoa.



NETELLER BREAKING NEWS


Leading payment processor Neteller has sought the temporary suspension of its shares after it emerged that two former directors had been arrested in the US.

Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre were detained by the US authorities while travelling separately. It is believed at least one was arrested in Los Angeles.

In a statement, Neteller said neither Lawrence or Lefebvre had any current position within the company. It added: “The group has not received any communication or correspondence from any US authority regarding this or any related matter.”

Lebebvre left Neteller in December 2005 while Lawrence left in October last year, just after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Lebebvre and Lawrence each own approximately 5% of the company's capital.

It is not known whether they have been arrested by state or Federal authorities.

eGaming Review will update as soon as more is known.

[Spuddy]

Interesting.........


Wonder if Netteller will shut down?

[Talking Poker]

Whoa is right.

[Talking Poker]

More:





If (and this is a HUGE if at this point) Neteller pulls out of the U.S. market........ well, that would be bad.

[lightfungus]

Ack

[2Tone]

Also, don't miss the last paragraph



Neteller BREAKING NEWS UPDATE

Neteller founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre have been charged with money laundering offences by the US Attorney General in the Southern District of New York.

A statement from the office of Michael Garcia added that Lawrence and Lefebvre had been arrested in connection with the “creation and operation of an internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from US citizens to the owners of various internet gambling companies located overseas”.

Lawrence and Lefebvre were arrested in the early hours of Monday morning, January 15. Lawrence was arrested yesterday in the US Virgin Islands and will be presented in federal court in St Thomas by tomorrow. Lefebvre was arrested in Malibu, California, and will be presented in a Los Angeles court later today.

Neteller suspended its share price this morning as the news broke.

In a statement released earlier today, Neteller said neither Lawrence or Lefebvre had any current position within the company. The statement added: “The group has not received any communication or correspondence from any US authority regarding this or any related matter.”

Lebebvre left Neteller in December 2005 while Lawrence left in October last year, just after the passing of the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act (UIGEA).

The news of the Neteller arrests spelt more bad news for those operators that have not exited the US.

Said one legal source: “It’s a warning shot across the bows for those still taking money from the US.”

He added: “They are aiming their strategy at the finance provision. It is consistent with the UIGEA. It is a more effective strategy than going after the operators themselves, such as PokerStars. When you get the money providers, you get the portfolio of operators.”

One leading operator suggested this was particularly bad news for those poker operators that remain in the US market. “This could be terminal for the poker business in the US. The average punter will not be willing to jump through the hoops (to get their payments through).”

[Kurn]

The bold part above sounds to me like the feds have some evidence the accused have some connection to some US-based bookmaking operations and knowingly facilitated the transfer of funds from those operations to online sites thus enabling the initial depositors to repatriate the cash at a later date and make it look clean.

Just a guess, but that's what the language there suggests to me.

[Reel Deal]

At this point, this makes no sense if they both are nothing more than shareholders. Strange.

[Kurn]

This either has nothing to do with the UIGEA or nothing to do with NETeller.

Both men left their employment of NETeller either prior to or right at the signing of the legislation. Since Article I, Section 9 of the US Constitution explicitly forbids ex post facto laws, they can't be arrested for any transactions they did while employed by NETeller that were not illegal at the time.

If this is about their activities since the passage of UIGEA, it cannot involve NETeller since they didn't work there.

Now, on the other hand, there are many other forms of money laundering that might occur that would have been illegal even if the US had completely legalized internet gambling, so I think we need to wait until all the facts come out before we panic.

[Reel Deal]

From CardPlayer.com

FBI Arrests Former NETELLER Executives
Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre Detained while Traveling Separately
Two former NETELLER executives were detained while traveling separately through the United States yesterday (Jan. 15) in "connection with the creation and operation of an Internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various Internet gambling companies located overseas," according to the U.S. Attorney General's office of Southern New York.

NETELLER suspended trading its shares on the London Stock Exchange in lieu of the detention of founding members Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre. Besides owning stock in NETELLER, the two do not hold any positions with the company.

NETELLER is an “e-Wallet” service that allows people to transfer money directly from their bank accounts to other parties. It’s the main service many online poker players and gamblers use to transfer money in and out of their preferred sites.

Here’s the complete release from the U.S. Attorney’s office:

"U.S. Charges Two Founders of Payment Services Company with Laundering Billions of Dollars of Internet Gambling Proceeds

Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark J. Mershon, the Assistant Director in charge of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that Stephen Eric Lawrence and John David Lefebvre were arrested yesterday in connection with the creation and operation of an Internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various Internet gambling companies located overseas."

NETELLER says it hasn’t received any kind of correspondence from the U.S. government concerning this situation, and although the subject line of this email (sent by a media representative of the AG's office) says they were charged with money laundering, CardPlayer.com is working on confirming the exact charges.

Lawrence and Lefebvre each own close to 6 percent of the company’s shares. Lawrence resigned as a non-executive director of the company in October; Lefebvre resigned from the same position in December of 2005.

Although Lefebvre and Lawrence do not and never have owned an online gambling site, they join a small club of men who have been arrested and charged by the Federal Government for violating various laws concerning online gambling, particularly money laundering.


Executives with online gambling companies Sportingbet and BetOnSports were arrested and charged with taking bets over the Internet (among other charges) in 2006, but this is the first time people affiliated with an “e-Wallet” have been targeted.

In October, President George W. Bush signed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is designed to curb online gambling by targeting banks that cooperate with online sites. The Treasury Department is still working out the details on how to enforce this law, and have until summer to do so.

NETELLER is based in the Isle of Man, and neither Lawrence nor Lefebvre are U.S. citizens.

Please click here to visit CardPlayer.com’s special section on the law and the Internet.

[X-Longshot-X]

Fuck

[GTDawg]

Kurn mentions the points I was going to make.

Involving the UIGEA and involving NETeller are mutually exclusive events in this situation.
The wording of the above article is sketchy at best.