Neteller Founders Arrested

Radley Balko | January 16, 2007

The founders of the online payment service Neteller have apparently been arrested at airports in New York and Los Angeles.

It's not yet clear why they were arrested. But it's worth noting that Neteller, which is based in the Isle of Man, is the only offshore online payment service that decided to continue to allow its U.S. customers to do business with online gambling sites after the new bill banning such transactions passed at the end of the last Congress.

And of course, U.S. officials have made a habit of late of arresting high-profile offshore gambling executives when they pass through the U.S. to switch planes.

Though the new law doesn't officially take effect until DOJ and the Treasury write the regulations that will enforce it, many at DOJ consider the mere facilitation online gambling -- as Neteller does -- to be illegal, even before last year's bill.

Comments

|1.16.07 @ 10:49AM|#

Gee, now how would the feds know when one of these fine gentlemen has a flight with a US transfer?

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 10:56AM|#

OOOH! OOOH! I know! I know! Pick me!

|1.16.07 @ 11:04AM|#

Er, you with the thing on your neck.

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 11:15AM|#

Is it the Patriot Act?

Bhh|1.16.07 @ 11:26AM|#

Well since we now appear to be in a War on Online Gambling, just make the internet illegal. You know they want to.

I dunno what pictures of our legislators the gambling lobby has but jeez, they must be a doozy to get the feds to grab otherwise harmless suits off planes like this.

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 11:32AM|#

More amazing:

Neither founder currently works for the company. They are shareholders.

This oughta be a nifty precedent.

|1.16.07 @ 11:40AM|#

Instant eChecks also offers same service

Warren|1.16.07 @ 11:41AM|#

Neteller!! Oh neteller. Cause I do my online banking with netteller. Pardon me, may I borrow the defibrillator?

|1.16.07 @ 11:46AM|#

Goiter: Really? I'd love to see what the charges are then, and after that what the lawsuit looks like.

|1.16.07 @ 11:49AM|#

Next, Bush is going to seek an indictment against Mohammad for his role in the 9/11 attacks.

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 11:50AM|#

jb:

Goiter: Really? I'd love to see what the charges are then, and after that what the lawsuit looks like.


One of them has been away from the business since '05, the other apparently resigned in October as a result of UIGEA being passed.

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 12:08PM|#

One would hope that some country just randomly decides to arrest american CEOs.

|1.16.07 @ 12:31PM|#

I'm just glad my kids and I can sleep tonight, knowing these two creeps are behind bars.

Alan|1.16.07 @ 1:05PM|#

Re: "Is it the Patriot Act?"

Like the U.S. hadn't previously had the ability (and the justifiable legal basis) to track when anyone lands at a U.S. airport.

Just what do you think those Customs officers have been doing when they scan the passports of anyone entering the country? You think that during the Clinton administration, folks changing planes at a U.S. airport could just anonymously go to their new gate?

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 1:21PM|#

Like the U.S. hadn't previously had the ability (and the justifiable legal basis) to track when anyone lands at a U.S. airport.

Hey there Alan, it's not about scanning passports. It's about having passenger manifests and running those manifest before the plane takes off from the runway. It's about know where everyone is going at all times and tracking it.

But, yeah, you're right sparky, Clinton did it too.

John Kindley|1.16.07 @ 2:09PM|#

As an online poker player and sometime Republican voter, Republican sponsorship of the internet gambling ban was the biggest thing keeping me home from the polls this past election. What a stupid move on the Republicans' part! Millions of voters gamble online, and the Republicans decide to piss them all off to satisfy a handful of anti-gambling puritan ninnies (or was it Vegas casinos pushing the ban, because they're unhappy that people can now gamble and play poker from the comfort of their own homes?).

If the Republican administration is going to actually play hardball and actively enforce this ban, I'll continue not taking the trouble to vote for anyone. Republicans used to be to my mind the lesser of two evils, but not anymore.

Jim Murphy|1.16.07 @ 2:10PM|#

They were indicted on Federal money laundering charges.....

tomWright|1.16.07 @ 2:21PM|#

hmmm.

Does this mean that if a legally registered prostitute in Amsterdam amkes an appointment with a US citizen, over the internet, and the 'transaction' occurs in Amsterdam, that she could be arrested if she steps foot in the US?

Could a US citizen be arrested for violating us drug laws if they visit one of those hemp cafe's in Amsterdam? Could the proprietor of one be arrested if they are on US soil?


(and no, I have never been to Amsterdam, or any foreign country except Alabama. (unless you count NJ as a foreign country) Except I was in Montreal once when I was around 9, but I was too young to be interested, even if these activities had been legal then and my parents would probably have objected in any case, plus Canada is a state isn't it? )

Jim Murphy|1.16.07 @ 2:32PM|#

Does this mean that if a legally registered prostitute in Amsterdam amkes an appointment with a US citizen, over the internet, and the 'transaction' occurs in Amsterdam, that she could be arrested if she steps foot in the US?

Could a US citizen be arrested for violating us drug laws if they visit one of those hemp cafe's in Amsterdam? Could the proprietor of one be arrested if they are on US soil?

Why of course....you got the memo about how the US makes the laws for the entire world now, didn't you?

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 2:52PM|#

Tom -- this also means that a US internet porn operator can be arrested in any number of countries.

|1.16.07 @ 3:58PM|#

"Why of course....you got the memo about how the US makes the laws for the entire world now, didn't you?"

And if you think Lex Americana is fun, wait to you see Lex Sinoca.

Larry A|1.16.07 @ 4:23PM|#

(or was it Vegas casinos pushing the ban, because they're unhappy that people can now gamble and play poker from the comfort of their own homes?).

The Las Vegas folks would be more likely to find a way to get in on the action. If you want a candidate for effectively pushing the ban, I'd bet on the state-run lotteries.

"Do as I say, don't do as I do."

Thomas Paine\'s Goiter|1.16.07 @ 5:54PM|#

Larry:

State Lotteries and Horse Racing bets are not banned, they are explicitly allowed by the bill.

Al Rothstein|1.16.07 @ 9:42PM|#

Gamblers are degenerate scum
I believe in the right of individuals to be degenerate scum

Internet gambling bans are clearly passed to please influential constituencies.

I wouldn't even call the Republican ban a two-fer.

Purely for the existing gaming industry.
Casinos , Indian Tribes , and uh who else has a stake in gambling revenues......hmmmm..if I could just remember......OH YEAH!...the States

This is one you can't blame on Christian Conservatives. The Bible Belt is full of State lotterys casinos dog tracks etc.

|1.17.07 @ 4:49AM|#

Our President bloviates about freedom in the Mideast while cracking down on freedom at home.

|1.17.07 @ 7:20AM|#

Body-grabbing another country's citizens is an act of war.

We went to war with Britain in 1812 because (among other causes), they were kidnapping American seamen and conscripting them into the British Navy. Let's see whether the Brits today have the guts to take the USA to task for trying to apply US law on British territory, where international law says the USA has no jurisdiction.

-jcr

|1.17.07 @ 10:19AM|#

Of course this has all been done to satisfy the gambling corps and state lotteries etc. You will see online poker become legal again once the domestic casinos get their software in order and bribes paid to the pols. The casinos were behind the curve and missed the boat, this was the only way to give them a second chance to make the $$ off online gaming and spread it around in payoffs.

Like anything follow the money and you will find the truth. The government asks itself, self am I making my cut of this money and if the answer is no they outlaw it as being immoral or society killing only until such time as they figure out how to get their hands in the pie then all of a sudden its perfectly safe and ok for all to enjoy.

Liquor was this way if you recall.

So quit bitching. As of now you can still go legally blow all your money at the casinos, OTB's and Horsetracks, lottery tickets, video poker or hell just buy a few stocks thats gambling if there ever was a definition.

But shame shame on those of you who want to do something without paying Uncle Sam a cover charge!

|1.18.07 @ 11:57AM|#

I requested an eft withdrawal from my neteller account before these arrests but have not received the funds, so I contacted them and now there is a 2 week delay in getting your funds by eft. I have funds stuck in limbo anyone know the chances of getting this?