American authorities have arrested the founder of an online poker payment processor as he attended a conference about internet payment processing in Las Vegas. Daniel Tzvetkoff, founder of Intabill, a company that processed payments for leading online poker sites was arrested by the FBI and now the online poker payment processor faces up to 75 years in prison for money laundering, fraud, illegal gambling and conspiracy.
Intabill was a hugely successful online payment processing company which served US customers at many of the world’s top online poker sites such as PokerStars, even after the passing of the UIGEA, a law which prohibits transfers to and from US citizens for the purpose of unlawfully gambling on the internet. The online poker payments processing company had over 50,000 customers worldwide and offered their services in more than 70 different countries but has since gone out of business.
In 2009 Intabill faced financial difficulties which ultimately led to the collapse of the company leaving both gamblers and online poker sites being owed millions of dollars. Following the collapse of Intabill, Tzvetkoff was served with numerous personal lawsuits which saw him declare personal bankruptcy. Following his bankruptcy Tzvetkoff set up a number of similar payment processing companies on a much smaller scale, also serving US customers.
While attending the ten-day conference in Las Vegas Tzvetkoff was arrested and charged by the FBI and he now faces a prison sentence which could see him behind bars until he is 102-years-old. Unsurprisingly, at a conference which was been filled with people that he and his company owed money to, Tzvetkoff was spotted and subsequently arrested.
This particular poker news story isn’t the first of its kind, nor will it be the last as the US continues to ban financial transfers to and from American online poker player’s accounts.
We will keep you updated with developments of this case as it unfolds.
14/06/2010 11:55:46
