By Shari Geller and Lou Krieger
Doylesroom.com was among 10 dot-com domains seized according to a May 23 statement issued by the US Attorney’s Office in Baltimore, MD. As a result of an undercover investigation into illegal gambling and money laundering, those named in an indictment include Darren Wright and David Parchomchuk of ThrillX, a Canadian software solutions provider, and Ann Marie Puig of BMX Entertainment, which is based in Cyprus and operates six online-gambling websites.
Eleven bank accounts registered in such diverse locations as Guam, North Carolina, Malta, Panama, Portugal and the Netherlands were also seized.
The seized domains are:
Bookmaker.com
2Betsdi.com
Funtimebingo.com
Goldenarchcasino.com
Betmaker.com
Betgrandesports.com
Betehorse.com
BetEd.com
Doylesroom.com
Truepoker.com
Doyle Brunson, the face of the DoylesRoom site, located in Nicosia, Cyprus, left the site and disassociated himself from the brand a little over a week ago. At the time the parting was announced, Brunson explained the move, saying: “Reluctantly, I have decided to terminate my endorsement contract with Doylesroom.com. It pains me to leave at this time. I have aspirations of reentering the online poker business when the United States Government passes legislation that officially legalize online poker sites. Doylesroom management has decided to continue to serve U.S. customers. Although they believe they have the right to market the name Doylesroom and to use my name and likeness for a period of time, I have asked them not to. Good luck-Shuffle up and deal.”
Back in January, Doylesroom announced it was leaving the Cake Poker Network and joining the Yatahay Poker Network, home of online sites True Poker and BetCRIS. Since Black Friday, Cake Poker has continued to accept US players and has, thus far, managed to avoid unwanted attention from the Feds.
A press release quotes US Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein as saying, of the recent indictments, “It is illegal for internet gambling enterprises to do business in Maryland, regardless of where the website operator is located. We cannot allow foreign website operators to flout the law simply because their headquarters are based outside the country.”
A federal grand jury in Maryland had returned the indictments back on April 26, but those indictments were not unsealed until May 23. As part of their investigation into the online gaming sites, a sting operation was run. Investigators created an undercover payment processing company called Linwood Payment Solutions which, according to the DOJ, allowed "undercover agents to gain person-to-person contact with top managers of gambling organizations to discuss the Internet gambling business, to negotiate contracts and terms of the processing, and to handle the intricate movement and processing of collection and payment data from the gambling organizations to the banks."
The DOJ further explained that Linwood processed transactions for BetEd.com and other online gambling companies since 2009. Between December 2009 and January 2011, investigators say the company processed more than 300,000 transactions worth more than $33 million. Linwood also processed transactions for other online gambling firms. Unlike the indictments handed down on April 15, not all of the sites seized yesterday conducted online poker; some were sports betting sites or engaged in other gambling enterprises.
The war on online gambling appears to be making even larger waves at the federal level, as other agencies get into the act. According to William Winter, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Baltimore, “The proceeds from illegal Internet gambling are often used to fuel organized crime and support criminal activity. HSI will work diligently to uncover illicit transactions involving these types of financial crimes. Together, with our law enforcement partners, we will disrupt and dismantle organizations that commit these crimes, regardless of their location, whether here in the United States or abroad."
IRS Special Agent in Charge Rebecca A. Sparkman, said, “Laundering money from illegal activity such as illegal internet gambling is a crime. Regardless of how the money changes hands—via cash, check, wire transfers or credit cards, and regardless of where the money is stored, in a United States financial institution or an offshore bank—we will trace the funds. IRS Criminal Investigation will vigorously investigate and recommend prosecution against the owners and operators of these illegal enterprises to the fullest extent possible.”
If convicted, defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison for operating an illegal gambling business and a maximum of 20 years in prison for money laundering. No court appearance has been scheduled.
While all this was happening, Bradley Franzen pleaded guilty in New York City to conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and accepting funds in connection with illegal internet gambling, as the feds continue to tighten the thumb screws on internet poker.
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