Neteller Founder Guilty of Conspiracy

[Gunslinger]

The co-founder of Neteller, which processed billions of dollars in Internet gambling transactions for Americans, pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of criminal conspiracy.

Stephen Lawrence, whose company was once one of the primary ways U.S. citizens placed bets with offshore bookies, acknowledged in a federal courtroom in Manhattan that the operation was illegal.

''I came to understand that providing payment services to online gambling Web sites serving customers in the United States was wrong,'' he told the judge.

His lawyers said he was cooperating with U.S. investigators, and had also agreed to be at least partly responsible for the $100 million the government is seeking from people who were involved in the operation.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Online-Gambling.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[xDiamond_CutteRx]

Bullshit.

[General Sal]

Damn... this is not a score for the good guys.

[AHBrownell]

Man, this was a stupid decision on his part. I don't there is any possibility they would have found him guilty in a trial...

[knode89]

Actually they would have found him guilty but not under the UIEGA act but under the Wires Act. Neteller processed funds for online sports gambling as well as poker and other casino games. The Sports Bets are the ones that he was busted for. That is illegal under the wire act. Since it was his company during the time that their primary business was sports betting that is what they had nailed him on. The rest just makes them look better but it was an open and shut case against the company on the sports betting side of things.

[UrAteUp]

Why didn't the dumbass just come out and say we never track what our customers do with their funds. We just bank funds for our customers. For all we know our customers are buying flowers for Aunt Milly. Never admit to shit.

[lwestatbus]

I think that knode is right on target with this one. The out and out betting has been illegal and pretty plainly so for a long time. As for UrAteUp's note, NeTeller operated as a UK corporation (I'm pretty sure) and US treaty arrangements with the UK probably made their transactions pretty readily available. There may have been flowers for Aunt Millie but the rest of the transactions would have been obvious as well. And I'm pretty sure that NeTeller has to institute agreements with clients at both ends of the transaction to transfer funds.

I think the DOJ had him by the short hairs and he copped a plea.