Apparently, some in the non-poker media recognize the historic nature of the first-ever UIGEA charges — and they\’re not happy about it. Check out Reason Magazine\’s jumping to the defense of Daniel Tzvetkoff, or at least being extremely of Department of Justice pursuits.
I find this article particularly interesting because of how it pairs politically with the recent story in The Hill about legalized online gambling creating jobs, according to a new study. Though jobs are appealing on both sides of the aisle, it\’s clearly an issue the Dems are looking to own in coming months.
Meanwhile, Reason, a Libertarian magazine, speaks more to the Tea Party set. So regardless of what happens to Tzvetkoff, you gotta like the plausibly bipartisan sales pitch taking shape in the Beltway for whatever online poker bills may or may not come to fruition later this year.
I haven\’t quite figured out why the poker world hasn\’t jumped on the significance of the first-ever UIGEA criminal indictment. Pussies! Oh well, so be it … if you pretend it isn\’t there, maybe it will go away, right?
But for those who care about accuracy and relevance, just an fyi, I found these landmark more-than-just-regular-ole-money-laundering accusations in the Department of Justice\’s publicly available criminal complaint:
The Indictment charges TZVETKOFF with four counts, including bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to operate and finance an illegal gambling business and to process electronic funds transfers in violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
This is the same document, of course, where the DOJ reveals how they see the people Tzvetkoff did business with as \”illegal internet gambling companies\” … and says that investigations are ongoing.
