Property may be seized in online casino crackdown

We have previously reported on the crackdown by the US Government on online casino sites that are alleged to be conducting online gambling in defiance of legislation which makes any form of online gambling illegal but recent reports in the general casino news suggest that property seizure may also be involved. The case involves three online casino Poker sites namely Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars and Absolute Poker and a certain Mr Chad Elie who is one of 11 people indicted as being involved in illegal processing of payments to and from the named online casino sites. The allegations in the casino news are that Mr Elie was involved in processing payments to non existent online companies selling goods such as jewellery when in fact the cash was being used as deposits to online casino accounts to play poker; if found guilty there is a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Also allegedly involved is Mr Ray Bitar, a founder of Full Tilt who incidentally employ several hundred people in Ireland. The New York courts are seeking to gain repayment of $3 billion and have declared a total of six properties owned by the two as “forfeitable as substitute assets” but one of those properties belongs to the wife of Mr Elie who was Playboy’s Miss January 2005 and who Mr Elie married in a ceremony in Las Vegas hours after he was named as one of the defendants. Mr Elie has pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on bail but this will not be the end of this story in the general casino news. Whilst other news stories suggest that online casino gambling in the USA will become legal sooner rather than later the courts are still chasing offenders..