USA Poker Players! Feds seize Poker Accounts

[DoverPro]

For all US Players!

Group says poker winnings are frozen

WASHINGTON (AP) — An advocacy group for online poker said Tuesday that the federal government has frozen more than $30 million in the accounts of payment processors that handle the winnings of thousands of online poker players.

The Justice Department has long maintained that Internet gambling is illegal, a view that the poker group challenges.

The Poker Players Alliance told The Associated Press that the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York instructed three banks to freeze the accounts.

Documents obtained by the AP show that a judge in the district issued a seizure warrant last week for an account at a Wells Fargo bank in San Francisco, and that a federal prosecutor told a bank in Arizona to freeze an account.

In a letter dated Friday and faxed to Alliance Bank of Arizona, the prosecutor said that accounts held by payment processor Allied Systems Inc. are subject to seizure and forfeiture "because they constitute property involved in money laundering transactions and illegal gambling offenses." The letter was signed by Arlo Devlin-Brown, the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
In another letter faxed the same day, Devlin-Brown asks that the bank treat the funds "as legally seized" by the FBI, saying that the government has probable cause that the gambling payments of U.S. residents had been directed to offshore illegal Internet gambling businesses.

A spokeswoman at the Southern District declined to comment.
John Pappas, executive director of the Poker Players Alliance, called the government's move an "unprecedented action" against online poker players.

In a letter Monday night to Devlin-Brown, Pappas said that the funds belong to the alliance's members, and requested that his group be notified and given the opportunity to be heard regarding attempts to seize the frozen funds.

"The PPA will pursue every legal course available to ensure that poker players' funds are not seized and their right to play poker online is protected," he wrote.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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[Wakou222]

The home of the brave and the Land of the Free..

[hnt4deer]

i live in the live free or die state and i would like to know who has the friggin right to tell me how i can spend my hard working money to do something i enjoy in my own home. i bust my ass off every week and i should be able to spend it any way i like

[DoverPro]

From the Wall Street Journal

In an apparent crackdown on Internet gambling, federal authorities in New York have frozen or seized bank accounts worth $34 million belonging to 27,000 online poker players, according to representatives for the players and account holders.
In an operation that began last week, the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York froze or issued seizure orders for bank accounts in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Arizona held at Wells Fargo, Citibank, Goldwater Bank and Alliance Bank of Arizona.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
The accounts are managed by Allied Systems Inc., and Account Services, which handle cash for popular online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Though the money belongs to the poker players, it is held for them in accounts managed by the two service companies.
Account Services, which had an account worth $15 million frozen in its San Francisco bank, doesn't accept deposits, but writes checks to players who are cashing out, said lawyer for the company, Jeff Ifrah. As a result, thousands of players receiving checks from the company won't be able to cash them, he said.
The seizures come as a debate over Internet gambling heats up in Washington. Last month, U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D., Mass.) introduced a bill that would legalize and regulate Internet gambling.
Federal authorities say online gambling is illegal, but Internet-gambling advocates say it is a gray legal area. In 2006, Congress passed a law making it illegal for banks to processing payments for unlawful Internet gambling. Critics say the law is unclear.
Poker players don't consider poker a game of chance, but a game of skill, and argue that poker shouldn't be lumped in with sports betting, for example.
The government has prosecuted Internet gambling in the past, including sites that allow users to bet on sports and play poker. The massive seizure by the U.S. attorney is the first time federal authorities have targeted online poker accounts, according the Poker Players Alliance, a Washington-based lobbying group for online poker players.
The Alliance said there are 10 million Americans who play online poker for money, and estimated the market at $6 billion.
The Alliance "is disappointed that this unprecedented action has been commenced against law abiding poker players," said former U.S. Senator and Alliance Chairman Alfonse D'Amato in a written statement.

[ladyloon]

Wow.... hope none of you are waiting for cheques..............that sucks ......

[72ofclubs]

its a big load of crap.....any thing the goverment can do to hold us down they will.

[peteyweestro]

Its getting to the point of insanity here in the good ol USA, but lucky for me i never was able to deposit into fulltilt,its like everytime i was gonna do it something would come up and i would tell myself i'll do it later,thank god later never came,lol......

[1CanadianGirl]

OK i'm asking this in this forum also

1-wasspoker.com uses US Dollars. like showed in this link..

https://secure.wasspoker.com/faq_dep...awals.html#1.1

This was taken from Wall Street Journal:
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
The accounts are managed by Allied Systems Inc., and Account Services, which handle cash for popular online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Though the money belongs to the poker players, it is held for them in accounts managed by the two service companies.

2-OK Wass is not included in the names of poker sites whose banks has been frozen or seized yet but...

Now (big IF ) WASS is a site paying their poker players worldwide in USA dollars thru an account they have in a USA Bank>>>>does it mean that>>>
since the FEDS froze or seized the banks accounts belonging to the Poker Sites who has an account in a USA bank will WASS for instance be able to pay their non USA players worldwide if their bank account for the poker site is frozen in USA by the FEDS????

Originally Posted by 1CanadianGirl

OK i'm asking this in this forum also

1-wasspoker.com uses US Dollars. like showed in this link..

https://secure.wasspoker.com/faq_dep...awals.html#1.1

This was taken from Wall Street Journal:
A spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office had no comment.
The accounts are managed by Allied Systems Inc., and Account Services, which handle cash for popular online poker sites, including Full Tilt Poker, Poker Stars, Ultimate Bet and Absolute Poker. Though the money belongs to the poker players, it is held for them in accounts managed by the two service companies.

2-OK Wass is not included in the names of poker sites whose banks has been frozen or seized yet but...

Now (big IF ) WASS is a site paying their poker players worldwide in USA dollars thru an account they have in a USA Bank>>>>does it mean that>>>
since the FEDS froze or seized the banks accounts belonging to the Poker Sites who has an account in a USA bank will WASS for instance be able to pay their non USA players worldwide if their bank account for the poker site is frozen in USA by the FEDS????

All I know is that I cashed out via check over 14 business days ago and I still have not received it. I'm starting to get real worried that I'm getting screwed. I even emailed their support asking if they had any funds seized and they said they didn't. Time will tell I guess but it's not looking good in my opinion.

[evilluck]

WassPoker does not use any of the same processors and player monies are held in secure accounts.

Elvar: as I have mentioned in another post your issue is related to verification.