U.S. Attorney Freezes
Online Payment Processor Accounts
 June
12 -
In a move that would make Big Brother proud
in George Orwell's powerful novel, 1984, this week the
U.S. attorney
for the Southern District of New York ordered four U.S. banks to
freeze the accounts
of a number of leading online payment processors, which
will impact 27,000 poker players.
This means that the players
- who dared to play poker at various offshore online poker rooms
- and who have accounts with any of the targeted internet
payment processors,
will not have access to their accounts and money.
The amount tied up by the freeze is thought to be around the
$30 million mark.
Ever since the U.S. Congress famously voted to ban online
gambling in October 2006,
there has been much debate across the nation as to whether
online poker
- which is widely considered to be a game of skill with an
element of luck -
should have been included in the ban that targeted online casino
gambling.
The U.S. attorney's clearly thinks so.
In a letter to Alliance Bank of Arizona,
allegations were made that bank accounts held by payment
processor,
Allied Systems Inc,
were 'subject
to seizure and forfeiture as they constitute
property
involved in money laundering
transactions and illegal gambling offenses.'
Two of the other American banks that received similar letters
- each signed by U.S. attorney assistant, Arlo Devlin-Brown -
are
Citibank and Wells Fargo.
In response to the 'freeze', a U.S. attorney's office
spokesperson said 'it is
our policy never to confirm or deny the existence of an
investigation.'
Currently
advocates of online poker in the United States are continually
pushing for the federal government to license and regulate
online gambling
- much like the UK government has done - arguing that U.S.
online poker players are being steered to
unregulated poker sites based offshore.
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