Home / Poker News May 2011 / Costa Rican Law Enforcement Clamps Down on PokerStars
Costa Rican Law Enforcement Clamps Down on PokerStars
Posted by: Jo Martin - Sun, 2011-05-08 11:50
Friday, the online poker world went through another post-Black-Friday scare, as the Costa Rican offices of PokerStars were raided by the Costa Rican equivalent of the FBI, the OIJ. The most interesting thing about the whole affair was the fact that the online poker community at one of the popular
poker forums got to follow the development, pretty much in real time. A
PokerStars affiliated poster rang the alarm bell through a post in which he sought to reassure the public that the raid would not lead to the closure or even suspension of activity for the site. He acknowledged that at the time of his first post, the OIJ was indeed at the company’s offices, and that employees had been sent home, but he said the employees would return in a few hours and that the activity of the operation would continue unperturbed. Indeed a good 20 minutes after his first post, the forum poster returned to let everyone know that employees were filing back into the office.
Costa Rica’s Teletica news agency covered the story. They apparently also shot a video showing the OIJ barging through the doors of 6 offices and homes in connection with the above said raid.
In other Black Friday related news: US-based players who still have funds locked up at
Full Tilt Poker have probably become regular visitors of the site’s FAQ page, eagerly awaiting the surfacing of favorable news regarding their ability to withdraw their monies.
The FAQ regarding the withdrawal of funds by US players currently doesn’t offer much comfort for these guys though. It now reads that players will be updated on the status of their transfers on May 15.
PokerStars have also updated their FAQ. It now seems that US players who have FPPs locked up at PokerStars, can purchase bonuses with their FPPs in the VIP store. They can then cash those bonuses out of their accounts straight away.
