We showed you the 52-page criminal complaint — 9 charges against 11 individuals facing between 5 and 30 years in prison. Now here\’s the 80-page civil complaint in the DOJ vs. PokerStars, FullTilt, AP/UB, et al:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/53170382/3bb-Civil-Complaint-DOJ-vs-PokerStars-Full-Tilt-UB-AP-et-al
The Feds\’ allegations tell a rather compelling narrative of illegal gambling, bank fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to circumvent US law — that if proven calls for the forfeiture of not just domain names, but also:
$1.5 billion from PokerStars
$1 billion from Full Tilt
$500 million from UB/AP
The court documents also spell out the details on the 76 bank accounts money allegedly passed through … in multiple countries and currencies, making USA vs. PokerStars+ not just a federal case but also an international one. And with the US Feds seeking to freeze these accounts, industry types get a hint of which Stars- and Tilt-funded paychecks may soon be in jeopardy … if they aren\’t already.
With the criminal indictment and civil complaint together, federal prosecutors Arlo Devlin Brown and crew, seem unafraid to telgraph their intent: People have to go to prison and we take their money, but if that\’s not gonna work, we\’re at least gonna get $3 billion guaranteed … and we now have two tries to take it down!
(I use the term we because these cases are technically \”the people of United States of America vs.\” … thus it really is you and I and my dad and grandma and her priest and the electrician and Bristol Palin and Justin Bieber … claiming that all those online poker spoils are rightfully ours.)
The regulated online poker-only \”Reid bill\”, if you recall, promised to generate $1 to $4 billion a year for the US government. So you gotta figure $3 billion in forfeitures buys another year for the forces who do wanna see fully legal licensed and regulated online poker — and other casino games — to craft a bill to their liking.