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.