FBI Shuts Down 2 MAJOR Online Poker sites...

No offense taken....but as the the sub-headline of the article reads.....which gives you the clue....

and that's 3 BILLION with a "B".


Operating in accordance with federal laws are one thing to keep the sites running...what's being done with the cash once they get it is a whole different thing (if it's true)

I really could care less about what niche it's in... as far as the poker niche...I play the game very frequently and have 2 of my own sites promoting Full Tilt for over 2 years now (and around $1,100 tied up now in my Full Tilt account)....which will probably be no longer and a loss.

I chose to promote them because of the very reasons you outline. On the surface both sites seem to be on the up and up. So I invested time, money and energy like the rest of us who operate in that niche.

I don't think that any law enforcement / FTC would randomly slap cases on businesses for that much money if there was not some form of evidence to support it.

I'm not condemning anyone just offering the opinion that if the allegations are true then it's not good for folks like us, players and employees of the companies.

Perhaps you should step off your pedestal.....I was just trying to have a discussion about it which would involve both sides. I read the article and thought it would be great to discuss....not bash people.

Yes. It tells me that some IMers don't take the time to understand the context of a $3 billion MONEY-LAUNDERING and BANK-FRAUD case that has ties to an alleged $275 million IM scam operating out of Nevada and Utah. The Nevada/Utah scam, as alleged by the FTC, involved a hidden, forced-continuity billing scheme, 10 corporations, FIFTY-ONE "shell" companies and THREATS to consumers who sought chargebacks.

It also tells me that some IMers prefer to do no research because it's easier to pop off in forums than actually to understand the context of the poker case, its ties to the FTC case and the deadly serious issue of money-laundering in general.

At least two of the defendants charged in the poker case have ties to a person named a defendant in the FTC case.

Over the years, some of IM's greatest purported brainiacs have declared it best to "test" the effectiveness of hidden-continuity schemes and do a cost-benefits analysis, as opposed to abandoning deceptive practices and speaking out against reprehensible billing schemes.

Your kneejerk response to the money-laundering and bank-fraud case reminded me of the reaction by some affiliates of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

IMers by the thousands initially rallied to defend AdSurfDaily, a Florida company implicated by the U.S. Secret Service in a $110 million Ponzi scheme. They raced to forums to "defend" the company; they started letter-writing campaigns to "support" the company; they circulated "petitions" calling for the Senate to investigate the prosecutors; they called for the Attorney General of Florida to be charged with Deceptive Trade Practices and for a Florida TV station to be charged with the same offense; they claimed their freedoms were being abridged; they tried to intervene in the forfeiture case by claiming the government had no "EVIDENCE"; they tried to sue the government on the preposterous theories that the Secret Service was interfering with commerce and that the judge and prosecutors were conspiring to deny them justice.

They pooh-poohed or ignored each and every allegation and did everything but THINK about the context of the case and the ramifications on economic security and national security. Their concern was the make the world safe for THEIR IM profits, regardless of how the profits were obtained and regardless of the effect on the Grandmas and Grandpas and the businesses of the world that need a safe place to deposit their Social Security checks or the proceeds of their hard work.

The reason I used the word "initially" above in the context of some IMers' instant, kneejerk reaction to the ASD case was because ASD's support largely evaporated over time as more and more damning information dripped out. The prosecution did not initially reveal much of the evidence it had, choosing to wait until the most strategically beneficial time.

One kernel it revealed more than two years into the case was that it had tied some of the money to a now-defunct payment processor in California whose operator was linked to multiple Ponzi schemes and accused of arranging the contract murder of his wife. It also came out over time that the operator of a company that allegedly provided debit cards to ASD had helped a Colombian narcotics-trafficking business launder money at ATMs in Medellin and agreed to accept $100,000 to launder cash in the Dominican Republic.

The debit-card provided is now listed as "Wanted" by INTERPOL.

No bank is safe if it is polluted by money-launderers and bogus corporate paperwork that masks the source of deposits that flow into the bank before heading elsewhere. The U.S. system nearly collapsed not all that long ago because of manipulations by criminals and fraudsters, much of it done under the banner of "freedom" and "free markets."

How free is anybody going to be if criminals are permitted to launder money and effectively mask the source of their funds by disguising them as proceeds from the sale of golf balls, jewelry and bicycles? Commerce depends on trust. If banks and financial institutions fail, then freedom itself fails.

The United States is a sovereign nation. It has thrown down the gauntlet to domestic and international money-launderers of all stripes because it knows that the threat to the financial infrastructure is real.

The U.S. banking system has experienced an attack of a thousand tiny cuts. Organized criminals and unfriendly, murky figures are seeking to deny Americans their most cherished freedoms. It is a sad reality that many of the attackers are operating under the banner of "Internet Marketing" -- but it is an inspirational sight indeed to see law enforcement launching a coordinated, sustained attack on entities that have no respect for widowed Grandma or the noble, corner barber who has opened his shop at precisely 7:30 a.m. for the past 50 years and cut hair all day long to put his children and grandchildren though college.

These murky figures also have no respect for Internet Marketers. The only thing they care about is how much money they can drain from the U.S. economy.

And how to get the cash out of the country through their shell companies and criminal networks, of course.

Get a clue.

Patrick