GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 17 - September 2011

By Vin Narayanan T wo businesses and three people were charged with money launder- ing and operating an illegal gambling business according to indictments un- sealed recently by U.S. Attorney Ron Rosenstein. As part of the indictment, 10 domains were seized, including Doylesroom.com. A federal grand jury in Maryland re- turned the indictments on April 26. Other domains seized by order of the court include: Bookmaker.com, 2Be t s d i . c om, Funtimebingo.com, Goldenarchcasino.com, Truepoker.com, Betmaker.com, Betgrandesports.com, Betehorse.com and betED.com. Elevenbankaccounts located inCharlotte, North Carolina, Guam, Panama, Malta and Portugal were also seized, according to an announcement by the Department of Justice. The indictments allege Canadian- based ThrillX and Cyprus-based BMX Entertainment offered sports betting services. ThrillX operated betED, according to the indictment, while BMX Entertainment offered six websites that ran sports betting services. Darren Wright and David Parchomchuk were also charged in the ThrillX indictment. Both are from British Columbia, Canada. Costa Rica’s Ann Marie Puig was charged in the BMX Entertainment indictment. According to the DOJ announcement, investigators opened up an undercover payment processing company called Linwood Payment Solutions. The company allowed “undercover agents to gain person-to-person contact with top managers of gambling organizations to discuss the Internet gambling business, to negotiate contracts and terms of the processing, and to handle the intricate movement and processing of collection and payment data from the gambling organizations to the banks.” Linwood has been processing transactions for betED.com and other online gambling companies since 2009. Between December 2009 and January 2011, investigators say the company processedmore than 300,000 transactions. And those transactions were worthmore than $33million. Linwood also processed transactions for other online gambling firms. If convicted, the defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for operating an illegal gambling business and a maximum of 20 years in prison for money laundering. WEBMASTER NEWS More online gambling indictments issued in Maryland and New York By Vin Narayanan Q uickTender, a popular electronic wal- let for online gaming affiliates, an- nounced recently it is halting operations. QuickTender announced the move on its website and e-mailed account holders about its decision. “With regret, the QuickTender service has been discontinued,” QuickTender said on its website. “All account holders will be notified by e-mail.” In a letter e-mailed to account holders, QuickTender blamed the stoppage of ser- vice on bank accounts being frozen by court order. “Further developments specifically relat- ing to our main bank processing company have resulted in our accounts being fro- zen subject to a seizure order giving us no ability to make payments in any cur- rency,” QuickTender said in the letter e- mailed to account holders. “In light of these developments we have had no option but to discontinue the QuickTender service with immediate effect and for the foreseeable future,” QuickTender wrote. “At this time we are unable to confirm when or if we could make payments of remaining balances.” The stoppage in service came just two days after the U.S. Department of Justice unveiled a second round of indictments against online gambling companies and seizures of related accounts. The DOJ charged Canadian-based ThrillX and Cyprus-based BMX Entertainment with money laundering and operating an il- legal gambling business. The indictment alleged the two companies offered sports betting services. ThrillX operated betED. com, according to the indictments, while BMX Entertainment offered six websites that ran sports betting services. Additionally, 11 bank accounts located in Charlotte, N.C, Guam, Panama, Malta and Portugal were seized, as were ten domains. On April 15, the DOJ unsealed simi- lar charges against the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker. In that case, the DOJ moved to seize more than 70 bank accounts and is seeking $3 billion in penalties. QuickTender’s wallet slams shut Webmaster News