|
 US
Justice Department
Eases Up on Online
Gambling...For Now
Content with the
idea that they are
about to make a cool
couple hundred
thousand from a
settlement with
PartyGaming, perhaps the US
Justice Department
has decided to ease
off the burgeoning
online gambling
industry for the
time being, or maybe
it has more pressing
issues like mortgage
fraud.
"There was a frenzy
of inquiries just a
few months ago then
suddenly things
quieted down," a
source tells
Gambling911.com.
Various individuals
have advised that
the US Government is
close to settling
with the biggest IPO
of 2004 in Great
Britain, PartyGaming.
Hundreds of millions
of dollars will be
paid out in fines so
that PartyGaming
could eventually
become a powerful
acquisition target
or the acquiring
power.
The
only hurdle to get
over in this regard
is "jail time".
The Justice
Department wants
Party's founder to
serve a few years
behind bars.
Actually, they want
blood.
"They'll pay the
steep fines, but
prison is out of the
question," the same
source told
Gambling911.com
Thursday.
"That has to come
off the table."
And
it may soon, just
not tomorrow or the
next day or the day
after that.
Industry observers
have been watching
both the PartyGaming
matter and this
week's news that
Bodog's flamboyant
Playboy founder,
Calvin Ayre,
abruptly announced
his retirement.
The
party line from Ayre
is that he is "sick
of the traveling and
being in the
spotlight".
That could very well
be, but the murmurs
around the industry
quickly suggested
"the heat is on Ayre".
The
US Justice
Department - perhaps
taking a chapter
from the Calvin Ayre
Book of "Everything
is Hunky Dory" -
claims they have
"never heard of
Calvin Ayre".
David
Baines, a reporter
for the Vancouver
Sun and someone who
admittedly hates
gambling, expressed
complete shock over
Ayre's sudden
retirement.
Baines nor the Sun
were aware of any
investigations into
the now former
online gambling
mogul.
Ayre
incidentally fired
his entire Public
Relations Department
this week, if there
was any doubt his
retirement was some
type of hoax.
He's
content with living
the rest of his life
in the online
gambling friendly
Caribbean nation of
Antigua, a country
that once turned
over the outspoken
head of its
Sportsbook and
Internet Gambling
Committee, Bobby Eremian, to US
Authorities in 1999
for alleged tax
evasion.
Eremian it seems was
a little too
outspoken against
Antigua's desire to
tax its own online
gambling businesses.
Antigua is also at
the center of a
debacle involving
defunct stiffing
sportsbook
BetonSports (still
owing millions to
customers),
protected its most
prestigious citizen,
Eddie Hadeed (well,
son of the island's
most prestigious
citizen) when he
stiffed a few
hundred sports
bettors, and
thumbing their noses
at other groups such
as iMEGA.org and the
political
collaboration of
Barney Frank/Ron
Paul, not to mention
they are hardly
working in
conjunction with the
now one million
strong Poker Players
Alliance. It's
no wonder the US
Government isn't
exactly willing to
work with Antigua
nor Great Britain
willing to allow
Antigua's online
gambling sites the
ability to advertise
in the United
Kingdom.
The
Justice Department,
meanwhile, has its
hands full - not
with evil online
gaming operators,
but rather with
major mortgage fraud
investigations.
In fact, the FBI is
currently
investigating 19
companies and almost
1300 individual
cases of potential
fraud in the US
mortgage industry.
----
Christopher
Costigan,
Gambling911.com
Publisher
CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com
Originally published
April 24, 2008 11:08
pm EST
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