Home / Poker News July 2009 / DoJ sued by payment processor for seized poker funds
DoJ sued by payment processor for seized poker funds
Posted by: James Carter. - Wed, 2009-07-15 07:43
The U.S Department of Justice’s Southern District of New York’s seizure of about $40 million in player funds has caused some serious ripples in the online poker world and apparently, the move drew some legal consequences as well. Account Services Corporation, a payment processing company from San Diego, decided to take the matter to a federal judge in order to have the DoJ ordered to return some $14 million illegally seized from the company’s accounts.
A total of $40 million was seized from the accounts of several online payment processors, Account Services Corporation being just one of them. The money consisted of winnings players have accumulated in some of the most popular online poker rooms which accept U.S. players, as well as returned deposits. Around 13,800 players were affected by the DoJs moves, as well as online poker giants Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, sites which hold an overwhelmingly large market share, especially in the U.S.
The motion aiming to recover the funds was filed on July 10th, by attorney Michael Panzer, and it is aimed at two bank accounts belonging to Account Services. The first one of the accounts was at Wells Fargo bank in California and it had $13 million seized from it. The bank was served with a warrant in this instance, unlike in the case of the second account – a San Diego Union Bank one – which had around $1 million seized without a warrant. A warrant was produced about two weeks after the second seizure.
These are some of the arguments brought up by Account Services Corporation:
- The law that the DoJ based its actions upon is apparently inapplicable in this instance. The 1970 Illegal Gambling Business Act cannot be applied here because illegal gambling is not involved in the case according to current legislation (the UIGEA). Furthermore, the company’s corporate operations do not violate the above mentioned law from any angle.
- The constitutional rights of the parties involved were disregarded by the DoJ.
- Poker players to whom the funds belonged couldn’t possibly have violated the provisions of any law, as none of the laws aimed at gambling and online poker feature any references to individuals being held accountable.
- The seized funds belonged to players who played online poker. Online poker cannot be considered illegal gambling under any circumstances, as the game of poker has been declared a game of skill by numerous courts across the nation and thus several legal precedents have been established in this respect. Furthermore, online poker is not included in the definition of gambling the attorney believes has been used for the seizure procedure.
The motion contains further arguments as to why poker and thus online poker cannot be considered games of chance.
The PPA (Poker Players’ Alliance) has thrown a shoulder behind the motion as well, fully supporting the arguments brought up in regards to the skill-based nature of the game. Posing as the voice of the players involved in the case, the PPA has put further involvement into perspective.
