PartyGaming Finally
Settles with U.S. to tune of $105 million
 April
10 - Barely two weeks after David Carruthers, former CEO of
online gambling
firm BetOnSports Plc, pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering
and fraud at a federal court in St Louis, Missouri, another
top-rated online gambling firm,
PartyGaming (Plc) has wiped the slate clean with the U.S.
Justice Department.
The Gibraltar-based PartyGaming, which has been the target of a
U.S. Justice Department online gambling witch hunt
for the last few years, finally put the matter behind it last
week after it reached a 'non-prosecution agreement' with the
U.S. Justice Department
to the tune of $105 million,
a substantial fine or 'pay-off'.
By agreeing to pay the enormous fine
over to U.S. authorities, PartyGaming effectively admitted that
allowing
American online gamblers
to play its online poker and blackjack games breached U.S. laws.
Of course, those in the online gambling industry recognise
just how canny PartyGaming's timing
has been.
With the Bush administration now history
(who were staunch opponents of the legalisation and regulation
of online gambling), and a general perception that
the Obama administration may be kinder to the popular internet
pastime,
PartyGaming felt the time was right to make good with U.S.
regulators.
As part of the settlement,
PartyGaming was forced to admit that it breached U.S. laws
before the U.S. Congress passed the draconian Unlawful Internet
Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA)
in 2006, which made all money transactions between Americans and
online gambling operations illegal.
Said PartyGaming spokesperson John Shepherd, 'This settlement
means that the
PartyGaming can now more easily get financing for future
takeovers. We
think the industry is in a good position for consolidation.' On
Monday the company signed an agreement with INTRALOT to launch
an Italian online poker service.
PartyGaming operates
PartyPoker, the world's
largest online poker site.
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