Dept. of Justice Siezes more Money

Filed in archive Gambling General on May 21, 2007

As reported by Aaron Todd of Casino City Times, the U.S. Department of Justice has seized $9.25 million in funds from Citadel Commerce, a third-party payment processor that had previously allowed U.S. residents to conduct financial transactions with Internet gambling companies. The Canadian-based company stopped processing U.S. gaming transactions in January, almost immediately after its competitor, NETeller, withdrew from the U.S. following the arrests of its two cofounders.

Another Canadian-based processor, FirePay, announced earlier this week that they have received seizure warrants from the DOJ for about $4.2 million in gaming-related funds. FirePay stopped accepting U.S. gaming transactions following the adoption of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in October.

Citadel had announced in late April that these funds had been frozen by one of its financial transaction processors.

In a separate indictment this week, three payment processors and seven individuals have been accused of miscoding gaming transactions and funneling money to online casinos and sportsbooks. BetUS has been charged with conspiring with the payment processors.