US Gov. Seizes $30 Million from poker players!!!!!

[giggles7p]

Holy Crap! Have any of you read this? The US government has frozen all processors that were holding poker winnings across the US.

Echecks were having a hard time being processed the past two days, and now i see why! wtf!

I posted the whole story here....http://www.gamblingaffiliateplace.co...splay.php?f=10

What next?

[casinoranking]

The US government is the most evil corporation out there, what do you expect.

[Renee]

This is why a lot of groups wont send cheques or wires to the US. Apart from processors disappearing overnight with funds, you then get this kind of crap happening..

BOOOO!

[vinism]

I'm still working this story and trying to get more details, but here's what I know so far:

According to the PPA, this is the timeline we're looking at:

• On or about June 4, 2009, a federal agent working with a federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York contacted at least two banks in the Los Angeles and Scottsdale areas and requested that accounts containing approximately $19 million in player deposits and payouts be immediately frozen until a seizure warrant could be obtained from an appropriate judicial officer.
  
  • It is important to underscore that in at least two cases, the prosecutor acted and the banks responded without a warrant being issued.
  
  
• Two days prior, the same agent and prosecutor team sent a seizure order to Wells Fargo freezing at least $14 million in accounts at that bank which were designated as pay-outs of winnings to Internet poker player.
• In most cases, the pay-outs were the return of initial deposits made by players.
  That same prosecutor sent two subpoenas to two individuals associated with one of the payment processing companies.
• The seizure notice and subpoenas appear to allege violations of the Wire Act and the Illegal Gambling Business Act, even by .com sites that are exempt from Wire Act liability and by .net sites that do not accept money.
• These actions are not related to enforcement of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA.).
• At least 24,000 player accounts have been affected directly or indirectly by the SDNY action.
  PPA has been in touch with the affected poker Web sites and has been assured that all players have been or will be appropriately reimbursed.
• On Monday, June 8th, the PPA sent a letter to the Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York asking to be part of any future warrant hearings. The letter is available at www.pokerplayersalliance.org.

According to player reports, PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker players have all been affected by this. Here's Full Tilt's statement:

Statement from Full Tilt Poker Regarding Recent Check Withdrawal Issues



In light of recent events involving freezing of certain poker players’ money in the United States of America, Full Tilt Poker would like to assure all players that their funds remain safe and secure. Processing of both deposit and withdrawal requests is proceeding as normal and is still available to all of our players in the US.


The issue involving the freezing of some funds affected only one of the many check processors that Full Tilt Poker uses to support player withdrawals. We do not expect any further interruption in check withdrawals or any other withdrawal methods, and any player who wishes to make a withdrawal should expect normal processing times. All players who were affected by the current situation have had their funds returned to their Full Tilt Poker accounts and all new withdrawal requests are processing normally.

We assure all of the players on Full Tilt Poker that your online playing experience will not change and that you will be able to both deposit and withdraw funds as needed. Your money remains safe, secure and always accessible at all times.

Full Tilt Poker remains committed to the protection of our players’ security and legal rights, and will continue to provide the best – and safest – online poker room available worldwide.

As I noted earlier, we're trying to track down more information to complete the story. But this is what we know so far. Hope the update helps.

[bb1web]

so these are accounts that belonged to the poker sites?

[vinism]

Here's the story we ended up running on this:

PPA says it will fight for money seized from payment processors

10 June 2009
By Vin Narayanan

Late last week, poker players flooded popular poker forums with word that some checks from PokerStars, Full Tilt and AbsolutePoker issued to American players were bouncing due to payment processor difficulties. This week, poker players found out why.

A federal prosecutor from the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has ordered the seizure of about $33 million from two payment processors, according to the Poker Players Alliance (PPA).

"We learned about [the seizings] last Thursday," said John Pappas, the executive director for the PPA. "We spent the weekend and the end of last week trying to figure out the entire situation, how many players were affected, building a legal case and making determinations on how we wanted to proceed.

According to the timeline posted on the PPA's Web site, a federal agent and prosecutor sent a seizure order to Wells Fargo freezing at least $14 million intended to be used to pay players. About two days later, the same agent and prosecutor contacted at least two banks in Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz., and directed them to freeze accounts containing about $19 million of deposits and payouts.

"It is important to underscore that in at least two cases, the prosecutor acted and the banks responded without a warrant being issued," the PPA said in its timeline.

The U.S. Attorney's office declined to comment directly on the case.

"It is our office policy to neither confirm nor deny the existence of investigations," said SDNY spokesman Rebekah Carmichael in an interview with Casino City.

The poker rooms have refunded player accounts, and moved to assure their American players that their funds are still available to them.

"The issue involving the freezing of some funds affected only one of the many check processors that Full Tilt Poker uses to support player withdrawals," said Full Tilt in a statement. "We do not expect any further interruption in check withdrawals or any other withdrawal methods, and any player who wishes to make a withdrawal should expect normal processing times. All players who were affected by the current situation have had their funds returned to their Full Tilt Poker accounts and all new withdrawal requests are processing normally."

PokerStars has returned the seized money to player accounts with a 10% bonus, according to reports in the TwoPlusTwo forums.

Whether this case ends up going to court depends on the SDNY, Pappas told Casino City.
"We are in direct discussion with SDNY and others at the DOJ and see if this enforcement is something they want follow through with," Pappas said.

"We're need to determine if it's a shot across the bow or a strong organized effort (to purse online gambling interests)," Pappas added.

The federal prosecutor working on the case is citing the 1961 Wire Act and the 2002 Illegal Gambling Act as the basis for its actions, according to the PPA. But Pappas is comfortable that the PPA has a strong case to make in court if gets that far.

"We think we have some strong legal arguments on our side and will go to court if necessary," Pappas said. "Re: MasterCard found the Wire Act did not apply to Internet poker, only sports betting."

If the SDNY prosecutor moves forward with the case, the PPA will try to stop it, Pappas added.

"We'll file an injunction on behalf of the players because it's their money being affected," Pappas said.

"The money they're going after is not the site's money, and can't be construed as the proceeds of unlawful Internet gambling," Pappas said.

"Because we'd file the injunction on behalf of the players, we're comfortable with (our) standing in the court," Pappas added.

[casinochipsj]

I am not sure if there are any good news to come out of this but I would expect the entire poker community to make a lot of noise about this and fight back. Maybe the government there might change their minds on regulation and get some needed tax dollars.

[LuckyLove8]

i think if the millions of online poker players were waiting for a trigger event to start making alot of noise, now would be the time..

on the business side of things it looks like non-US poker sites are going to benefit. On UK share mkts 888 holdings, PartyGaming and Playtech rose on the news.

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle6474790.ece

btw the libertarian in me sees the beginnings of a whole new age of nanny corporate state totalitarianism about to begin. Its not just online poker the US govt is gettings its hands into everything now.

[JSM_Jaxon]

$30 million down, now only $8.058 Trillion to go! I don't want to get political, but I'm sure there are better ways that the US gov't can reduce the National Debt....

[raphnix]

Now it sound more resolved with FullTilt poker making comments and reassure their players. I wonder what about the other poker sites.