On May 23, 2011 the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against the principals of a series of online sports betting sites. The defendants, Darren Wright and David Parchomchuk of British Columbia and Ann Marie Puig of San Jose, Costa Rica were charged with conducting an illegal gambling business and money laundering in violation of the laws of the State of Maryland.
According to the press release, Homeland Security Investigations opened an undercover payment processor (“Linwood Payment Solutions”) which collected funds and distributed winnings to/from the defendant websites and transferred those funds to offshore foreign banks. The undercover payment processor processed over 300,000 gambling transactions worth over $30 million for the defendants between December 2009 and January 2011.
The defendants’ domestic and foreign bank accounts, together with their domain names (Bookmaker.com, 2Betsdi.com, Funtimebingo.com, Goldenarchcasino.com, Truepoker.com, Betmaker.com, Betgrandesports.com, Doylesroom.com, Betehorse.com and Beted.com) have all been seized as part of the investigation
This latest attempt to prosecute online gambling follows last month’s indictment of eleven individuals associated with three major internet poker sites (Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker) for similar money laundering and illegal gambling offences. (View related article at http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/72298.html).
Heydary, Javad
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