Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of an indictment today charging eleven defendants, including the founders of the three largest Internet poker companies doing business in the United States, PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker, with bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal gambling offenses.

The United States also filed a civil money laundering and in rem forfeiture
complaint against the Poker Companies, their assets, and the assets of several payment processors for the Poker Companies. In addition, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank accounts utilized by the Poker Companies and their payment processors, and five Internet domain names used by the Poker Companies to host their illegal poker games were seized.

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."

The three companies and eleven listed owners are accused of tricking regulators and banks into processing billions of dollars of illegal Internet gambling proceeds.

The first two defendants, Elie and Campos, who run smaller banks that processed funds were arrested Friday in Utah and Nevada. The other nine defendants are known to live abroad Isai Scheinberg, Raymond Bitar, Scott Tom, Brent Beckley, Nelson Burtnick, Paul Tate, Ryan Lang, Bradley Franzen, and Ira Rubin.

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."

PokerStars has put into effect blocks of some U.S. players in real money games as an initial reaction, although it seems to be varying state to state. Full Tilt and UB seem to have remained open for business for now.

PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, and Absolute Poker owners indicted by District Attorney and FBI