Michael Hoffman - May 19, 2006
The indictment against two people running an illegal online gambling site was unsealed yesterday
The US Department of Justice has shut down a web site operated by William Scott and Jessica Davis, who were using an online casino and sports gambling web site to launder money. WorldWide Telesports Inc. allegedly allowed gamblers to place bets via toll-free telephone numbers and various Internet web sites that were operated by the company. Scott also faces charges after he failed to report foreign bank accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. The recently unsealed 12-count indictment claims that Davis and Scott operated the $2.5B USD offshore site that had American gamblers send money from the United States down to Antigua. The Associated Press reports:
The indictment says the defendants obtained $2.5 billion in unlawful proceeds from telephone and internet gambling. The government is seeking $250 million through forfeiture in hopes it can collect the fees kept by the defendants.
Both suspects are currently on the run. Interestingly enough, there are very few bodies of government that regulate online gambling sites, particularly because the sites can be run from off-shore servers and yet still operate in the US. Certainly, this is not the last we've seen of such criminal activities.
The indictment against two people running an illegal online gambling site was unsealed yesterday
The US Department of Justice has shut down a web site operated by William Scott and Jessica Davis, who were using an online casino and sports gambling web site to launder money. WorldWide Telesports Inc. allegedly allowed gamblers to place bets via toll-free telephone numbers and various Internet web sites that were operated by the company. Scott also faces charges after he failed to report foreign bank accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. The recently unsealed 12-count indictment claims that Davis and Scott operated the $2.5B USD offshore site that had American gamblers send money from the United States down to Antigua. The Associated Press reports:
The indictment says the defendants obtained $2.5 billion in unlawful proceeds from telephone and internet gambling. The government is seeking $250 million through forfeiture in hopes it can collect the fees kept by the defendants.
Both suspects are currently on the run. Interestingly enough, there are very few bodies of government that regulate online gambling sites, particularly because the sites can be run from off-shore servers and yet still operate in the US. Certainly, this is not the last we've seen of such criminal activities.
