Another Seizure
September 23, 2009
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, the online gambling is under attack again. Earlier this month there was another federal raid of bank accounts related to the online gambling community. Allegedly these funds were holding various online gambling payouts, and therefore the government felt that they had the right to seize these illegal payments.
Authorities say that they had sufficient evidence to take the money out of these accounts as they were illegal online gambling payouts. They stated that under the UIGEA they had the right to seize these illegal funds and so they did per the laws that govern the country. Online gambling funds were taken from one Citibank and two Bank of America accounts. The only thing that seems to be truly clear in this situation is that these accounts did in fact hold online gambling funds.
The courts in Maryland and New York granted permission for the online gambling seizures. The District of Maryland was responsible for the seizures, which makes many question if these are related to the investigation that is ongoing in regards to ElectraCash, Inc. What is most interesting is that the two states that have granted permission for the online gambling seizures do not have restrictions on the industry. The courts have recently deemed that online gambling’s legal issues are the responsibility of the state, which leads many to believe that these two states may be looking to pass some sort of law that makes online gambling illegal within their borders.
Many are wondering how this will impact online gambling in their fight to have it legalized. With more than $30 million already been taken by the government one wonders what will happen in December, when the full responsibility of the UIGEA lands squarely on the shoulders of the financial institutions themselves.
