Posted on 01/16/2007 11:21:12 AM PST by jpl
Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre Detained while Traveling Separately
Two former NETELLER executives were detained while traveling separately through the United States yesterday (Jan. 15) in "connection with the creation and operation of an Internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various Internet gambling companies located overseas," according to the U.S. Attorney General's office of Southern New York.
NETELLER suspended trading its shares on the London Stock Exchange in lieu of the detention of founding members Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre. Besides owning stock in NETELLER, the two do not hold any positions with the company.
NETELLER is an “e-Wallet” service that allows people to transfer money directly from their bank accounts to other parties. It’s the main service many online poker players and gamblers use to transfer money in and out of their preferred sites.
Here’s the complete release from the U.S. Attorney’s office::
“Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Mark J. Mershon, the Assistant Director in charge of the New York office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced today that Stephen Eric Lawrence and John David Lefebvre were arrested yesterday in connection with the creation and operation of an Internet payment services company that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from United States citizens to the owners of various Internet gambling companies located overseas.”
NETELLER says it hasn’t received any kind of correspondence from the U.S. government concerning this situation.
Lawrence and Lefebvre each own close to 6 percent of the company’s shares. Lawrence resigned as a non-executive director of the company in October; Lefebvre resigned from the same position in December of 2005.
Although Lefebvre and Lawrence do not and never have owned an online gambling site, they join a small club of men who have been arrested and charged by the Federal Government for violating various laws concerning online gambling.
Executives with online gambling companies Sportingbet and BetOnSports were arrested and charged with taking bets over the Internet (among other charges) in 2006, but this is the first time people affiliated with an “e-Wallet” have been targeted.
In October, President George W. Bush signed into law the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which is designed to curb online gambling by targeting banks that cooperate with online sites. The Treasury Department is still working out the details on how to enforce this law, and have until summer to do so.
NETELLER is based in the Isle of Mann, and neither Lawrence nor Lefebvre are U.S. citizens.
Ping to the poker ping list.
Ruh Roh...
I'd wager the government will win it's case, as absurd as it may be.
Sir, you're under arrest for illegal offering of games of chance, i.e., gambling.
Thank You, "Moral Majority" for protecting me from my self...
well maybe the MM had some help from the Vegas lobby ...
how do they always wind up in bed together?
Amazing since the biggest gambling crooks are the gummint, taking 50% of the pot on Lottery, and then taxing your winnings from the remainder.
People downplayed the ban on internet gambling but this is a major reason the dems won so many seats in congress this last election. Sneaking the bill through on the sly and making it illegal for Americans to gamble on line was a dispicable move and done mainly by Republicans and it pissed a lot of republicans off.There is no difference between these freedom grabbers and the liberals.
I guess the government hates competition.
And the Theocons wonder why people crossed party lines in *droves* in the last election.
I think the American Taliban needs to be divorced from conservatism.
And so the shakedown starts...
Please. The Congress didn't pass that legislation out of any sense of moral duty or because the bingo loving "religious right" demanded it. They passed it because they couldn't figure out how to tax internet gambling, and because they are in the pocket of the brick and mortat gambling interests.
-ccm
"Sir, you're under arrest for illegal offering of games of chance, i.e., gambling."
Only the government can do that, doncha know. Can't have competition for the lottery (and social security).
Poker Ping!
Freepmail me if you want on the Poker Ping List.
Thanks to jpl for the heads-up
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