Neteller

[MichaelCorfman]

The legal definition of moneylaundering has expanded well past its original commonly understood meaning. My current understanding is that any effort to obscure the source or destination of funds being transfered can be considered money laundering even when there are no otherwise illegal activities involved.

Michael

[GPWA Ryan]

Update: NETeller co-founder John LeFabvre posted bail this moring in California...Stephen Lawrence also appeared in court, but his bail status is unknown, according to official sources.

NETeller co-founder John LeFebvre was released Wednesday morning on $5 million personal-recognizance bail.

The 55-year old Malibu, Calif. resident was arrested Monday and faces money-laundering charges for his role in the founding and operating of e-wallet service NETeller.

LeFebvre, who appeared before a Los Angeles magistrate Wednesday morning, was forced to surrender his passport and agree to pre-trial supervision. He must remain in the central district of California unless traveling to southern New York to face trial, said Rebekah Carmichael, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's office in New York City.

Fellow NETeller founder Stephen Lawrence, also arrested Monday on the same charges, appeared in a U.S. Virgin Islands court Tuesday, Carmichael said.

Carmichael did not say if Lawrence was offered or posted bail.

Both men are scheduled to appear in the Southern District of New York Court on January 26, Carmichael said.

[GPWA Ryan]

UPDATE: NETeller no longer accepts instant cash requests.

In other NETeller news, the largest online gambling "e-wallet" indefinitely suspended its popular "Instacash" option to U.S. players.

The Instacash option allowed online gamblers the ability to access electronic funds transfers (EFT) without having them first clear their financial institution.

Instacash was popular with online gamblers because players could use the deposited money instantly for a service charge. Traditional deposit methods force players to wait as many as 3-5 business days for the EFT to clear.

NETeller has also suspended the player's ability to fund their accounts instantly via credit card transactions. According to NETeller's Web site, players can still deposit money using traditional methods.

All withdrawal methods will continue to function normally, NETeller announced.

[mojo]

That's it for the US. From the Neteller site:

US member update
Effective Immediately

Due to recent US legislative changes and events, effective immediately, US members are no longer able to transfer funds to or from any online gambling sites.

All US members will continue to be able to use their NETELLER e-wallet account to safely transfer funds to and from non-gambling merchants and are not required to close their account or withdraw their funds.

Please note that we are experiencing higher than normal support volumes and recommend that you read the FAQs for more information.

Read more here:
xxxhttp://content.neteller.com/content/en/member_businessupdate.htm

[CityGuard]

Citadel announced yesterday that they would no longer process transactions between US customers and non-domestic online gaming sites. It's not clear to me whether non-domestic refers to non-Canadian (where the company is based) or non-US. This could have an impact on allowing that some online gambling sites can still use Citadel if the statement applies "domestic" to mean Canadian and views Kahnawake as part of Canada (depite tribal sovereignty).

I called the contact listed but got a voice mail. We will follow up later in the day to clarify the meaning of "domestic" in this release.


The full announcement from Citadel's parent company ESI Entertainment is as follows:

For Immediate Release January 17, 2007

Citadel Commerce Shuts Down Financial Processing for Nondomestic

Internet Gaming Merchants for USA Consumers

Vancouver, BC, January 17, 2007 -- ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. (“ESI”) (TSX: ESY), a leading provider of products and services to international organizations and the gaming industry, today announces that effective immediately it’s subsidiary Citadel Commerce Corp. will no longer offer financial processing to non-domestic Internet Gaming merchants for USA consumers.

The Company was looking forward to complying with the new Regulations for financial processors under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 passed on October 13, 2006 but this decision was made by the ESI Board of Directors in the light of recent US Department of Justice enforcement actions against financial processors executives.

This decision will have a material impact on the financial condition of the Company as a substantial part of its revenues was derived from non-domestic Internet Gaming merchants for
USA consumers.

About ESI Entertainment Systems Inc.

ESI Entertainment Systems Inc. (“ESI”) (TSX: ESY) provides products and services to the international gaming industry through its three principal subsidiaries, Citadel Commerce Corp., ESI Integrity Inc. and PlayLine Inc. ESI's products and services, which primarily consist of payment processing, transaction monitoring and turnkey gaming platforms, are deployed in the on-line and land based gaming markets.


For further information please contact:

ESI Entertainment Systems Inc.

Mark Bains, C.A.
Chief Financial Officer
Telephone: (604) 299-6922
email: mbains@esi.ca
Web:

www.esi.ca

Investor Relations:

David Feick
The Equicom Group
Telephone: +1 403 538 4787
dfeick@equicomgroup.com

[onestopgamblingguide]

OK this may sound real dumb, but why did these 2 guys even have to come to the US?

In other words, obviously they knew the situation and the possible consequences so why take the risk? Must have been some real important business over here hehehe......

[freddyBP]

Hi everyone,

In response to the recent news of Neteller leaving the US gaming market...

----------------------------
Our US site Bingos.com will continue to accept bets in the short term for its US business.

However, we are looking at serious offers to acquire the business with immediate effect and/or may have to put in place certain restrictions to block any US transactions. Either the restrictions will be imposed or the disposal will take place within the next 4-6 weeks.

I will inform all affiliates immediately once any of this takes place - any outstanding affiliate payments to be made will be honoured unquestionably.
----------------------------

I hope to see you at CAP Euro next week.

Best,

Freddy
______________
Affiliate Manager
Bingo Program