Another payment processor arrest in the U.S.

[The Buzz]

And he might have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling online casino operators (that he stole $100 million from!) ...

Australian man arrested for processing online gambling payments in the U.S.
19 April 2010

By Aaron Todd

A 27-year old Australian man was arrested Friday in Las Vegas on charges that he helped offshore Internet gambling companies process online gambling transactions worth more than $543 million for American gamblers.

Daniel Tzvetkoff, who was arrested in Las Vegas while attending a conference, has been charged with illegal gambling conspiracy, bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and money laundering. He faces up to 75 years in prison, and at least $543 million in fines, "in that such sum in aggregate is property representing the amount of proceeds obtains as a result of the gambling conspiracy offense," according to the indictment against him.

According to the Queensland Courier-Mail, U.S. authorities may have been tipped off to Tzvetkoff's activities and presence inside the United States by online gambling companies who allege that he stole $100 million of U.S. player deposits.

"Daniel went to the U.S. and got into the country no problems (sic)," a former coworker of Tzvetkoff told the Courier-Mail. "I think him wandering around that conference sort of thumbing his nose at some of the people he owed large amounts of cash to caused them to get in touch with the FBI."

According to the indictment obtained by the U.S. Attorney from the Southern District of New York, Tzvetkoff laundered money from February, 2008, until March, 2009, when online gambling companies stopped working with him as a result of the alleged theft.

Tzvetkoff's company, Intabill, Inc., used Automated Clearing House transactions to move money from the checking accounts of online gamblers to several offshore shell companies. He then moved those funds to online gambling accounts. He also used those companies to move player winnings from online casinos back into U.S. bank accounts.

"In an e-mail dated March 12, 2009," the indictment reads, "Tzvetkoff instructed the Intabill Representative to e-mail banks from a non-Intabill e-mail address, to tell the banks that the Intabill Representative 'was referred to them by another processor or bank or something along those lines,' and to claim that the Intabill Representative 'work(s) for a large processor of general e-commerce.'"

Earlier, in May, 2008, a co-conspirator not named in the indictment, e-mailed Tzvetkoff to inform him that he had "'hired 4 contract programmers to develop unique APIs/URLs for the new processing companies,' and that therefore '(t)he ACH companies will look, feel and be different than each other!! We have taken this step to absolutely ensure that no one company will look or be the same as the other so that if a customer/client is checking the companies out there is absolutely no way they will tie the companies together.' One minute later Tzevtkoff responded: 'this is all perfect!'"

Tzvetkoff is the second man to be arrested in the last year for processing Internet gambling deposits and withdrawals. In August, 2009, Canadian resident Douglas Rennick was charged with transferring more than $350 million from bank accounts in Cyprus to U.S. banks to pay Internet gamblers.

[HBKKH]

75 years! ouch! Think he will get bail? or will he be deemed a flight risk?

[Renee]

Wasn't he arrested for something else 1-2 years ago?

Perhaps I'm just getting it confused with something else, but I remember seeing his head somewhere in the news a few years back.

[shortow]

don't think he was arrested Renee but there was a lot of press about Tzvetkoff and Intabill when it went under with debts in the 10's of millions to a few large operators early last year. He was also the Brisbane .com wunderkind who made some pretty extravagant asset purchases for a 27yr old and was always in the social pages.

His company's (and his) collapse was written about quite a bit.

[bbonline]

Wasn't he arrested for something else 1-2 years ago?

Perhaps I'm just getting it confused with something else, but I remember seeing his head somewhere in the news a few years back.

Shortow is right, it is from a debt last July 2009. Here is a news from http://www.smartcompany.com.au/inter...m-in-debt.html :

Empire of wealthy IT entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff collapses with $80m in debt
Friday, 10 July 2009 10:41
James Thomson

The business empire of high-flying IT entrepreneur Daniel Tzvetkoff lies in ruins after his main holding company, BT Projects, was placed in liquidation after crumbling under a reported $80 million of debt.

The collapse comes nine months after Tzvetkoff and his business partner, Sam Sciacca were valued at $120 million on BRW's Young Rich List.

The pair's main business was Intabill, an online payments company. Exactly how much is owed by Intabill, which had a strong presence in the online gambling sector and had expertise in "high-risk sectors", is unclear.

Unsecured creditors are owed around $55 million, with the bulk of this owed to four online poker companies that used Intabill's services: Kolyma (which owns the Full Tilt Poker site), Poker Stars, Absolute Poker and Golden Poker.

In June, Kolyma launched legal action against Intabill in the Queensland Supreme Court, seeking the payment of a debt of $52 million. Kolyma claimed payments collected by Instabill on behalf of Kolyma had not been passed on to the poker company.

The amount owed to three secured creditors - Jorn Schamann, Bright Star Qld Pty Ltd, ANI Holdings Pty Ltd - is not known.

Liquidator John Park of KordaMethna told the Gold Coast Bulletin that Tzvetkoff had signed personal guarantees to many creditors.

Park was unavailable for comment before publication.

Another business associated with Tzvetkoff, luxury boat company DSB Cruises, was placed in hands of receivers last month.

It has been reported that many of Tzvetkoff's luxury assets, including his Lamborghini with the licence plate BALLER, have been repossessed and Tzvetkoff has also reportedly sold his share in a Brisbane nightclub earlier this month.

Tzvetkoff, who is just 25, shot to prominence last year when he emerged as the mystery buyers of a $27 million mansion on the most exclusive strip on the Gold Coast, Hedges Avenue. The property was formerly owned by Young Rich member Tony Smith, who was forced to sell after striking financial trouble after the collapse of Gold Coast finance and tourism business, MFS.

The mansion was undergoing extensive renovations, but Tzvetkoff was forced to stop work earlier this year in one of the first signs his empire could be under pressure.

In April, Intabill sacked more than 90 of its 200 workers, blaming the economic environment.

[morri]

He's f**ked....
If it's true, then 75 years is a bit soft!

It's because of these kind of people that economy is all ****** up!

[Renee]

Thanks bbonline.. thats what i was thinking of

[RedSq]

He's f**ked....
If it's true, then 75 years is a bit soft!

It's because of these kind of people that economy is all ****** up!

he's only 27 give him a chance.. he doesn't deserve more than 6-7 years...75 years for what? murder?

[my3sons]

including his Lamborghini with the licence plate BALLER

He's gonna need to change that plate to prison-b@tch! lol

Wow... did anyone hear about the investigation with brazzers porn network accused of laundering money from the gaming industry through their porn accounts? The feds have seized their company and are holding the accounts of a major adult webmaster paycheck processor.

I don't understand why people don't just set up and do things in a legit way. There is so much money to be made if guys don't get greedy.

[universal4]

They should give him time off for money returned.

When Lou Pearlman was sentanced they offered him 30 days off for each million he returned.

He got 25 years.

Rick
Universal4

[bonusbeast]

I think 75 years is a little harsh, I think 10 would be sufficient.

[bbonline]

"Seeing how Daniel Tzvetkoff 'a serious risk' of fleeing, his bail has just been abolished by New York Judge Lewis Kaplan..." That's one recent news update on him, according to http://www.theaustralian.com.au/busi...-1225859785650 . There's a probability that he will really spend 75 years in jail...

[LuckyLizzy]

I feel bad for the guy but he should have seen it coming. 75 years is a long time though for a non-violent offense. I'm sure it will be reduced by a lot. Especially if he returns some of the money.

[BenjaminMarketing]

At 75 years, they are trying to set some kind of example...a deterrent. 10 years maximum would have set the tone, in my opinion.

There was a similar story for an owner of a gov't company that fleeced the U.S. govt for over 25 million.. She offered to return 4 million as a 'good faith' deposit (if good faith could even be established at that point) She eventually killed herself. Her sister, who was her twin, ended up taking all the charges.

Hopefully, things will work out for the greater good..

[Renee]

At 75 years, they are trying to set some kind of example...a deterrent. 10 years maximum would have set the tone, in my opinion.

There was a similar story for an owner of a gov't company that fleeced the U.S. govt for over 25 million.. She offered to return 4 million as a 'good faith' deposit (if good faith could even be established at that point) She eventually killed herself. Her sister, who was her twin, ended up taking all the charges.

Hopefully, things will work out for the greater good..

WTF?!

Why did her sister take the charges?
Thats unjust.

[BenjaminMarketing]

Well... her sister was recorded being involved with the entire scandal. Apparently, she had tried to exonerate herself from the situation, but was not successful in doing so.. Her signatures were on most of the paperwork that was shuffled through the system, and when the investigation was underway, she was implicated in the conspiracy charge.

It definitely sucked for her, as she received 40+ years. And that's federal F.M.I.T.A. time.

[lfmedia]

He's f**ked....
If it's true, then 75 years is a bit soft!

It's because of these kind of people that economy is all ****** up!

Haha. This is correct. We need a guillotine set up on wall street to get he message across.

[TRADEVA]

I remember seeing this guy on the news for this.
Serves him right for being cocky around people he owes millions to.

[martin b]

he is 27 years old, younger than me and a millioner..

[my3sons]

he is 27 years old, younger than me and a millioner..

There are a lot of young millionaires. A million isn't what it used to be.

More like 10's of millions are what you should aspire to.

I agree that they need to set a tone with these guys. 75 years seems a bit harsh. Is he eligible for parole?