WASHINGTON — An advocacy group for online poker said Tuesday that the federal government has frozen more than $30 million in the accounts of payment processors that handle the winnings of thousands of online poker players.
The Justice Department has long maintained that Internet gambling is illegal, a view that the poker group challenges.
The Poker Players Alliance told The Associated Press that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York instructed three banks to freeze the accounts.
Documents obtained by the AP show that a judge in the district issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco, and that a federal prosecutor told a bank in Arizona to freeze an account.
In a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank of Arizona, the prosecutor said that accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture "because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses."
The letter was signed by Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In another letter faxed the same day, Devlin-Brown asks that the bank treat the funds "as legally seized" by the FBI, saying that the government has probable cause that the gambling payments of U.S. residents had been directed to offshore illegal Internet gambling businesses.
A spokeswoman at the Southern District declined to comment.
John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, called the government's move an "unprecedented action" against online poker players.
In a letter Monday night to Devlin-Brown, Pappas said that the funds belong to the alliance's members, and requested that his group be notified and given the opportunity to be heard regarding attempts to seize the frozen funds.
"The PPA will pursue every legal course available to ensure that poker players' funds are not seized and their right to play poker online is protected," he wrote.
Effects of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and Issue That it Brings to US Gamblers
You love gambling and you're a resident of the US. But things change after the passing of a particular bill. No thanks to the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), it is currently more difficult to gamble online. Finding an online gambling site that matches to your pick and allows you to really play may be very difficult for a US player. Other US online gamblers may find themselves in this kind of condition. Some online gambling sites does not prohibit US players and that's an encouraging fact. One must only be capable and intense in finding it.
The Reason
US players are not accepted on several gambling sites in the first place and it is primarily because of the UIGEA. As the name Online Gambling Ban Bill imply, it was the one which initially prohibited online gambling in the US. There was never a public appeal made about it through the ratification process by those who gamble online and it was not ever made clear as to why. In the end, it was approved and is currently being enforced as the UIGEA.
For a lot of online casinos that particularly rely a lot on its shareholders, the UIGEA spelled death. The actual implementation of the UIGEA has not happened yet, and whether or not it will truly transpire is not clear. The shareholders are quickly pulling out their shares from the online casinos because it places UIGEA in a rather confusing state, and consequently, triggering capital lose and permanent shutting down of online casinos.
The Issue
The issue is whether or not gambling is still allowed in the US. Most states do allow online gambling. Some, however, has prohibited its citizens from online gambling. There are about 14 states that do not allow online gambling. The online casinos, however, seems to be currently going nowhere really because of the investors withdrawal from online casinos. Such endangered online gambling sites and crippled the industry as a whole. It is not helpful as well when there's doubt about the issue in any way.
The stopping of US players from joining in their online gambling site was taken upon by some gambling sites themselves. People think it has a lot to do with UIGEA, even if reasons may really vary for this.
What's the Application
Only a small number of online casinos or online poker sites, like what was mentioned, offer to the US players their services. The UIGEA when utilized in real life, can bring plenty of trouble. Actually the law being not yet really enforced caused the trouble.
But in fairness to the UIGEA, it has forced a lot of online casinos to enforce stringent measures on the registration of its players. Now, it has become a lot harder - even impossible - for minors to register. Also, the creation of bogus accounts is more closely monitored. Making certain that the clients they have are not bogus and illegal is one step that online casinos have carried out.
The Reason
US players are not accepted on several gambling sites in the first place and it is primarily because of the UIGEA. As the name Online Gambling Ban Bill imply, it was the one which initially prohibited online gambling in the US. There was never a public appeal made about it through the ratification process by those who gamble online and it was not ever made clear as to why. In the end, it was approved and is currently being enforced as the UIGEA.
For a lot of online casinos that particularly rely a lot on its shareholders, the UIGEA spelled death. The actual implementation of the UIGEA has not happened yet, and whether or not it will truly transpire is not clear. The shareholders are quickly pulling out their shares from the online casinos because it places UIGEA in a rather confusing state, and consequently, triggering capital lose and permanent shutting down of online casinos.
The Issue
The issue is whether or not gambling is still allowed in the US. Most states do allow online gambling. Some, however, has prohibited its citizens from online gambling. There are about 14 states that do not allow online gambling. The online casinos, however, seems to be currently going nowhere really because of the investors withdrawal from online casinos. Such endangered online gambling sites and crippled the industry as a whole. It is not helpful as well when there's doubt about the issue in any way.
The stopping of US players from joining in their online gambling site was taken upon by some gambling sites themselves. People think it has a lot to do with UIGEA, even if reasons may really vary for this.
What's the Application
Only a small number of online casinos or online poker sites, like what was mentioned, offer to the US players their services. The UIGEA when utilized in real life, can bring plenty of trouble. Actually the law being not yet really enforced caused the trouble.
But in fairness to the UIGEA, it has forced a lot of online casinos to enforce stringent measures on the registration of its players. Now, it has become a lot harder - even impossible - for minors to register. Also, the creation of bogus accounts is more closely monitored. Making certain that the clients they have are not bogus and illegal is one step that online casinos have carried out.
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