Charges of criminal activity were levied against PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker today. The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted 11 individuals associated with the largest online poker operators in the world. Furthermore, the DOJ seized 75 bank accounts from 14 countries as well as the domain names of the poker sites.
Prosecutors allege the online poker sites laundered money and committed bank fraud by misleading banks about the true nature of their business. According to the New York Times the online poker sites, “tricked banks into processing billions of dollars in payments from customers in the United States”.
The actual indictment is available online. The Indictment and Civil Complaint seeks 'at least $3 billion’ in civil money laundering penalties and forfeiture from the Poker Companies and the defendants.
