GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 10 - Sept 2009

T here’s never any shortage of candidates for the APCW Wall of Shame. For some reason, people are always attacking the industry. But in this issue’s Wall of Shame induction, we decided to focusonone stinky, smelly thorn in the side of the online gambling industry that we justcan’tseem topullout–namely theU.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of NewYork (SDNY). That’s right, SDNY– stand upand takeabow. You’reofficiallyon the list. According to a source close to the SDNY prosecutions, federal prosecutors, along with the FBI and IRS, have been investigating the onlinegambling industry since2006. The first to feel SDNY’s bite were NETeller cofounders John LeFebvre and Stephen LawrenceandNETeller customers. In January of 2007, LeFebvre and Lawrence were both arrested and charged with laundering billions of dollars of Internet gambling proceeds. Then SDNY froze $55 million of online gamblers’ money from NETeller accounts. Both LeFebvre and Lawrence reached plea deals, and the money was eventually returned to online gamblers, but the moves drove NETeller and several other ewallets out of the North American market – effectively putting a crimp in the abilityofAmericanplayers togambleonline. But SDNY wasn’t satisfied with that. Oh no. This June, it ordered the seizure of about $33 million from two payment processors including Account Services. Then it indicted Douglas Rennick on conspiracy charges for bank fraud, money laundering and operating an illegal gambling business for allegedly processing payments for online casinos and poker rooms – including PokerStars, Full Tilt andUltimateBet–withAccount Services. And if SDNY has been investigating online gambling in the U.S. since 2006, you can bet thatmore charges and indictments are on the way. And that’s why they’re now on theWall of Shame. GrandPrive CasinoGroup RussHamilton SteveBeshear SpencerBachus 80 Christel Schaldemose Churchof England StephenConroy JohnKindt WALL OF SHAME byJ.Todd, ExecutiveDirector,APCW GPWA Times :: APCW’sWall of Shame SouthernDistrict ofNewYork Previous Inductees: