'Black Friday' and associated fallout megathread

#1 15th April 2011, 7:10 PM

the .com names of full tilt poker, pokerstars and ub have been seized and CNN just reported that all three companies have been charged with illegal gambling and Fraud

not sure what to make of this, as of 2:10 on 4/15 the sites are still up/running and playable.

will keep posting updates as i find them

for an updated list of Cardschat US poker sites page.

---

edit 4/16

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemorechance

Extensive cliffnotes so far

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemorechance

Quote:

Originally Posted by xdeuceswild81xx

the .com names of all three sites has been seized and CNN just reported that all three companies have been charged with illegal gambling and Fraud

not sure what to make of this, as of 2:10 on 4/15 the sites are still up/running and playable.

will keep posting updates as i find them

The court order issued

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemorechance

Here's the court order

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pres...dictmentpr.pdf

The potential implication for defendants, along with an article on today's events

Quote:

Originally Posted by LuckyChippy

In addition to the criminal charges, the US Attorney filed a civil suit seeking $3 billion in damages. The FBI froze 75 bank accounts and seized five websites, in addition to the arrests that were made today.

The bank and wire fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/onlin...#ixzz1JcP0FrjE

The charges themselves

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemorechance

Charges are:

1 - Conspiracy to Violate Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA)
2 - Violation of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA)
3 - Operation of Illegal Gambling Business
4 - Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud
5 - Money Laundering Conspiracy

Quote:

Originally Posted by onemorechance

The defendants

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolnout

http://www.pokernews.com/news/2011/0...cted-10218.htm

In the indictment, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, "As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud. Foreign firms that choose to operate in the United States are not free to flout the laws they don’t like simply because they can’t bear to be parted from their profits."

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Janice K. 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."

At least $3 billion in civil money laundering penalties from both the poker companies and defendants is being sought after. According to the indictment, Campos and Elie were arrested Friday morning in Utah and Las Vegas, Nevada, respectively. Franzen is expected to appear in court for his arraignment on April 19, 2011. Those who are not in the United States, Scheinberg, Bitar, Burtnick, Tate, Tom, Beckley, Rubin, and Lang, have not been arrested, but the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York is working with foreign law enforcement agencies and Interpol to arrest the defendants.

Quote:

Originally Posted by c9h13no3

You can no longer play at stars

Article on the man who is now the most hated person in the poker community

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolnout

http://www.businessinsider.com/boy-g...scandal-2011-4

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick

Exclusive CC article: http://www.cardschat.com/f13/poker-s...ed-fbi-196134/

Quote:

Originally Posted by Egon Towst

[On Brits with money online]It`s tough to be sure until the dust settles, but you should be fine. You are a UK citizen and have broken no UK laws. The US government have no jurisdiction over you and, if they were to cause you a financial loss by their unjustified interference in your affairs, you would have a case to sue them for compensation.

Potential positives?

Quote:

Originally Posted by coolnout

1:00 p.m. PDT: If there is any bright side to this black Friday, it could be that this DOJ affront makes it clear to Congressional leaders like Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid that federal legislation to officially legalize online poker must move quickly.

#2 15th April 2011, 7:11 PM

****, CNN has definitely reported on it??

#3 15th April 2011, 7:12 PM

Fml WTF fml

#4 15th April 2011, 7:14 PM

yes, on their twitter and on reuters.com banner...

http://www.reuters.com/

#5 15th April 2011, 7:19 PM

WTF really, why what seems to be the issue?

#6 15th April 2011, 7:23 PM

not sure, but the charges seem pretty serious...this could be the beginning of the end of ftp/ps

#7 15th April 2011, 7:24 PM

this is at ultimatebet.com

#8 15th April 2011, 7:28 PM

And I only have one more day left on my Take 2!! Darn feds!

#9 15th April 2011, 7:29 PM

FML, an article says it is on certain parts of the world, but could take up to 48 hours, this really sucks!
Thank goodness I have money on Carbon, lol

#10 15th April 2011, 7:29 PM

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Federal authorities unsealed an indictment Friday against the founders of the three largest internet poker companies operating in the U.S. The indictment charges eleven defendants, including the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses, according to Federal authorities in New York. Restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts used by the poker companies and their payment processors, while five Internet domain names used by the companies to host poker games were seized, federal authorities added in a statement.

Lees meer: http://nl.pokernews.com/poker-forum/topic193872/

#11 15th April 2011, 7:32 PM

Sky confirmed falling

#12 15th April 2011, 7:33 PM

You can still log in and play, you just can't get to their website at the moment. I'd say they'll all have alternate domains up and running by the end of the weekend. The real danger in all this is if FTP/Star give up the US market because these ****heads are making things too expensive.

#13 15th April 2011, 7:33 PM

Here's the court order

http://www.justice.gov/usao/nys/pres...dictmentpr.pdf

#14 15th April 2011, 7:33 PM

merge network is untouched so far, so they must not of been caught up in this

Seriously bad news for ftp/ps/ub

#15 15th April 2011, 7:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WVHillbilly

You can still log in and play, you just can't get to their website at the moment. I'd say they'll all have alternate domains up and running by the end of the weekend. The real danger in all this is if FTP/Star give up the US market because these ****heads are making things too expensive.

exactly what im afraid of

ya the .net domains are okay, this happened previously w/bodog, so they changed the name to bodoglife.com, but they fought back and won their original domain name back

#16 15th April 2011, 7:36 PM

You thought you were haveing trouble withdrawing money form FTP before,ha ha ha.

#17 15th April 2011, 7:40 PM

This means the end of FT and PS in the US, I honestly believe they'll just say **** this, it's too expensive and too much hassle:

In addition to the criminal charges, the US Attorney filed a civil suit seeking $3 billion in damages. The FBI froze 75 bank accounts and seized five websites, in addition to the arrests that were made today.

The bank and wire fraud charges carry a sentence of up to 30 years in prison.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/onlin...#ixzz1JcP0FrjE

#18 15th April 2011, 7:41 PM

Charges are:

1 - Conspiracy to Violate Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA)
2 - Violation of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGIEA)
3 - Operation of Illegal Gambling Business
4 - Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud and Bank Fraud
5 - Money Laundering Conspiracy

#19 15th April 2011, 7:43 PM

Last 2 charges are serious business.

#20 15th April 2011, 7:43 PM

I'm personally not about to withdraw or anything, but I've seen people pulling money off so far

This seems to be the 1st step in going after these major companies,

seems odd timing, just as online poker becomes legal in D.C./almost in Nevada, all to relative and its no secret the big time casino's don't appreciate FTP/PS/UB etc.

#21 15th April 2011, 7:44 PM

Well my fellow U.S. players live poker is much softer any way.

#22 15th April 2011, 7:44 PM

'**** you to the F.B.I' (Shakur, Tupac, 1991)

#23 15th April 2011, 7:47 PM

The defendants

[image: http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/1181/defe.jpg]

#24 15th April 2011, 7:52 PM

FTP/PS/UB is probably going to just pull out now

#25 15th April 2011, 7:53 PM

I'll hold off on saying that. Way too early to be speculating. Let's at least see how the sites respond.

#26 15th April 2011, 7:53 PM

Durrrr's twitter:

Quote:

Clearly it makes sense to seize pokerstars n tilt n ub at the same time b/c 2 of those companies are providing a service while trying to operate in a market which the doj is (anti-constitutionally) making it difficult to operate in, and one of them is a complete fraud of a company. I long ago realized that laws replaced common sense in every day government, however I still thought n hoped the regulation of billion dollar industries was usually done in a logical fashion

#27 15th April 2011, 7:54 PM

Wonderful, just saw this on Twitter. Hopefully it's just the websites and not the rooms.

#28 15th April 2011, 7:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolfie

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Federal authorities unsealed an indictment Friday against the founders of the three largest internet poker companies operating in the U.S. The indictment charges eleven defendants, including the founders of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses, according to Federal authorities in New York. Restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts used by the poker companies and their payment processors, while five Internet domain names used by the companies to host poker games were seized, federal authorities added in a statement.

Lees meer: http://nl.pokernews.com/poker-forum/topic193872/

Direct link to the Market Watch story:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/doj...-04-15-1358350

#29 15th April 2011, 7:57 PM

**** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you **** you. Why the **** do you have to interfere with my life you worthless pieces of god bothering self righteous sons of whores! It's my money and my life and you have no right given by god nor through any other power to control me or my actions. I ****ING HATE YOU I WANT YOU TO DIE.

decw-09fhp-02-f0[w2fjm{}!!{

#30 15th April 2011, 7:57 PM

transfer are still going from player to player as alot of my stakes are still coming in and going out right now.. its a wait and see ,,DANM IT
I HATE UNCLE SAM....

#31 15th April 2011, 7:58 PM

all speculation here on but:

why would the fbi sit around since 06', not doing anything about sites blatanly running in the U.S. and then up and decide today to take some actions against them? It's probably the big casino's realizing that online poker is going to be legal sooner rather than later (Legal in D.C, in the process in Nevada)

They dont want to lose all that potential revenue, so they want to get PS/FTP/UB out of the market, so they will have their share of the pie

ALL Speculation ^^^^

#32 15th April 2011, 7:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xdeuceswild81xx

this is at ultimatebet.com

I just went there and the site looks fine.. as does pokerstars.com and fulltiltpoker.com

#33 15th April 2011, 8:00 PM

I was just playing on UB about 10 mins ago, no problems getting on the site, will keep a eye on this for sure though, could mean big problems for us US players. May be time to start looking for a live game close by.

#34 15th April 2011, 8:00 PM

Isn't tax due in the States next week?

#35 9th September 2012, 10:04 PM

your computer isnt updated yet, its probably still running off an old copy of the page...within 24-48 hours it will update for everyone...mine only does this for UB right now, but there is confirmed pics of FTP/PS as welll

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