(IMAGE: This is what appears if you go to the pokersites now)Three of the largest online poker sites have been shut down by the FBI in a probe that could bring about the death of the internet gambling industry.
Eleven people, including the owners of Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars, were charged with bank fraud and money laundering.
In 2006, Congress passed a law prohibiting online gambling, but most of the leading sites found ways to work around the law using foreign banks. Prosecutors allege that in doing so they broke the law.
FBI assistant director Janice Fedarcyk said: ‘These defendants, knowing full well that their business with U.S. customers and U.S. banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck.
‘They lied to banks about the true nature of their business. Then, some of the defendants found banks willing to flout the law for a fee.
The defendants bet the house that they could continue their scheme, and they lost.’
According to the indictment, the companies arranged for money received from U.S. gamblers to be disguised as payments to non-existent websites purporting to sell merchandise such as jewellery and golf balls. Read More
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