Filed in archive Internet Poker by David Aydt on January 17, 2007

The landscape of internet poker could be changing quite quickly as reports are filing in concerning the recent charges brought against two major shareholders of Neteller (which if you didn't know is the preferred funding method of nearly all online poker players).

Here's what Tony Bromham at Pokernews reported:

Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre have been charged with the creation and operation of an internet payment services company (Neteller) that facilitated the transfer of billions of dollars of illegal gambling proceeds from US citizens to the owners of overseas internet gambling companies.

The Prosecutors referred to Neteller's 2005 annual report in support of the assertion the arrested pair enabled Neteller to provide payment services to over 80% of worldwide gaming merchants. The US Attorney Garcia also referred to Neteller's admission in its public listing prospectus that US law prohibited people from promoting certain forms of gambling and transmitting funds that are known to have been derived from criminal activity. Lefebvre and Lawrence are also said to have conceded in the company's offering documents that they were risking prosecution by the US government.

Neteller was founded in 1999 and began processing internet gambling transactions in mid-2000, allowing companies to transfer money from US customers to bank accounts overseas. Prosecutors say that Neteller processed, in 2005 alone, more than $7.3 billion in financial transactions, 95 percent of which was derived from money transfers involving internet gambling.

Lawrence and Lefebvre are both charged with conspiring to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling. Potentially, they could face jail terms of a maximum of 20 years should they be convicted.

Lefebvre was arrested in California and is scheduled to appear in US District Court in Los Angeles today (Tuesday). Lawrence, who lives in the Bahamas, was arrested in the US Virgin Islands and will appear in Federal Court on Wednesday

Pretty crappy day for the world of online poker, but if you need some uplifting reminder that people can still play this game without worrying about having their three figure bankrolls frozen, join Jason "Spaceman" Kirk in Tunica for the live blogging of the WSOP Circuit Event. Current they are down to its final table of six with the winner walking away with $563,402!!