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Neteller Co-Founder Lefebvre Pleads Guilty in Online Poker Online Gambling CaseWed, Jul 11th, 2007 @ 12:00am Former Neteller chairmen and co-founder John David Lefebvre (55) has agreed to a plea deal lodging a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to conduct illegal Internet gambling transactions in the criminal case against him and Neteller co-founder Stephen Lawrence (46), in an announcement made yesterday. Lawrence and co-founder John Lefebvre, both Canadians, started Neteller in 1999. They were arrested whilst on US soil on January 15, 2007. Lawrence was the first to plead guilty to the same charges last week (click here for article on Lawrence). NETeller quickly exited the U.S. market following the arrests, and abandoned around two thirds of its overall market. The Isle of Man company took the arrests as a clear signal that the US was serious about cracking down on financial providers to the Internet gambling industry. Shortly thereafter, accounts of US online players were frozen as evidence as part of the investigation against Lefebvre and Lawrence. The funds have yet to be returned, though Neteller claims plans to do so are to be announced shortly. The government said that Neteller was once one of the primary ways US residents placed bets with offshore Internet gambling operations, and that Neteller processed $5.1 billion worth of transactions in the first half of 2006 alone. They claimed that nearly all these transactions involved online gambling. Lefebvre's plea deal parallels the plea deal accepted recently by Lawrence (click here for article on Lawrence plea deal). Lefebvre has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and to testify if necessary, and to be partly responsible for the $100 million in fines sought by the U.S. government. His plea was entered in the Manhattan courtroom of Judge P. Kevin Castel, the same judge who presided over Lawrence's plea agreement. Similar to Lawrence, the plea deal carries a maximum sentence of five years, though it is believed that a shorter duration, even with no time served, may be part of the deal. On a related issue, July 11th was the day that regulations were to be announced for financial institutions to use to enforce the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). No announcement has yet been made from the United States Department of Justice. Read Related Article:
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BC Poker Champion Arrested, Charged with Manslaughter Just two days after taking down the BC Poker Championships Main Event, Sophon Sek of Cloverdale, BC, was arrested in connection with one of the most storied crimes in the Province's history.
Local Businessman Bags European Poker Tour Vilamoura Bling The European Poker Tour rolled into the Casino Vilamoura last week, instantly generating the richest poker prize pool in the nation of Portugal's history.
Keikoan Captures Harvey's Lake Tahoe WSOPC Championship This week marked the finale of the biggest annual tournament series in Northern Nevada, the WSOP Circuit championship at Harvey's Lake Tahoe. While the Main Event saw only a modest turnout, it did boast of a tough final table, and a WSOP bracelet owner as the eventual champion.
WSOP Main Event Champ Joe Cada to Appear on Letterman The poker world will receive some late night attention tonight as "The Kid" Joe Cada, the youngest champion in the four decade history of the World Series of Poker Main Event, takes a seat next to embattled talk show host David Letterman.
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Pollack Done as Commish of World Series of Poker Just three days after crowning Joe Cada as the 2009 Main Event champion, officially closing the special 40th anniversary run of the World Series of Poker, Jeffrey Pollack has resigned his post as Commissioner of the WSOP.
Durrrr Signs as Team Full Tilt's Youngest Member Tom "durrrr" Dwan is the newest member of Team Full Tilt, the online site's highest level of affiliation. At 23, Dwan is the youngest of the now 14-person team. The high stakes cash phenomenon was nominated for induction this year into the Poker Hall of Fame until the Hall of Fame Governing Council decided he was too young to meet the "has stood the test of time" qualification.
Joe Cada Becomes Youngest World Series of Poker Main Event Champ History was made early Tuesday morning in Las Vegas as 21-year-old Joe Cada outlasted Darvin Moon in heads-up play to claim the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event bracelet and more than $8.5 million. |
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