Online gambling+poker payment processor Douglas Rennick had to sign over his property on Tuesday, in accordance with his recent guilty plea in US Federal Court. That, of course, has the Southern District of New York now batting 1.000 when it comes to getting convictions or guilty pleas in online gambling cases.
The amount Rennick admitted was involved in the illegal \”gambling conspiracy\” he was part of totaled $583 million. But as part of his plea agreement — reducing his threatened sentence from 30 years to 6-to-12 months — the amount he actually signed over (thereby contributing to national debt reduction, obv) was about $17 million. I think that was just about everything he had on him. The Feds are still seeking that extra half-billion, and expect Rennick to help them find it before he gets officially sentenced in September.
Check it out … here\’s the actual forfeiture order
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The crime the Canadian payment processor pled to (one count) was a Wire Act violation. Generally we poker people have thought of the Wire Act as being more about sports betting. But in Rennick\’s case, court documents made it clear — specifically in an sworn affidavit from an FBI agent — that this money came from Full Tilt and/or PokerStars.
By law, the Feds have 30 days to post the details of his seized accounts at www.forfeiture.gov. Then, you\’ll have 60 days to file a claim if you think any of that money might belong to you. Any takers?
Big ups to @GamingCounsel for helping me understand the difference between \”forfeiture allegation\” and \”subject property\” in 140 characters or less. [thx!]