Forfeited Internet Gambling Funds May Help Change Gambling Laws
The more the United States government looks into Internet gambling the sooner it may be before the laws are changed. Recently Goldwater Bank agreed to forfeit over $730,000 in order to settle a claim by the US Justice Department in money that was brought in as a result of illegal Internet gambling.
It has been a busy year for the Justice Department since they have been sending a serious message to the Internet gambling industry. This June the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) went into effect and, already, the government has had a few cases that have dealt with funds dealing with online gambling.
Goldwater Bank has made the claim that the money that is question came from transactions that was not legal. THEUIGEA put a lot of burden on financial institutions in the US to thwart Internet gambling transactions and the recent Goldwater Bank settlement indicates that the government will prosecute banks that do not follow the laws of the UIGEA.
In the past few months the government has shut down a few payment processors that have taken money in by residents in the US that are gambling online. The major money amounts may lead to the legalization and regulation of the Internet gambling industry.
Gaming Analyst Steve Schwartz recently states, “The government has been told how much money is being spent on online gambling, but the numbers have been projections. Now, as they bust these processors, they are seeing first hand just how many millions of dollars are heading to offshore online gambling sites. With that much money involved, it may not be long before the laws change.”
Rep. Barney Frank already has begun the process to change the laws in the US. One of Frank’s bills was passed in the House Financial Services Committee, which the overturn the UIGEA as well as come up with a blueprint for regulating the online gambling industry in America.
Goldwater Bank was accused by federal officials of accepting financial transactions that were traced back to the gambling website of PokerStars. That will not be good for the PokerStars site, as they were in hopes to get a license to operate their website in the United States when and if the laws are changed.
An amendment to Frank’s legislation states that if any company is seen to be in violation of laws currently on the books in the US would then not be eligible to get a gaming license. Both Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars websites that were seen to be a main reason for the amendment, therefore the PokerStars and Goldwater Bank connection will not help the gambling site in the time to come.
The issue dealing with the Goldwater Bank came about after Ahmad Khawaja and his processing companies, Allied Wallets Inc., and Allied Systems Inc. had agreed to forfeit the amount of $13,3 million in funds that dealt with money laundering. The US government is under the belief that the money was used in transactions that came in from Internet gambling sites and gamblers residing in the US.
