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After deal, PokerStars returns $100 million to gamblers
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: May 14, 2011 | 11:26 a.m.
Disgraced online gambling company PokerStars said Friday it has returned more than $100 million to U.S. gamblers since it reached an agreement with government prosecutors last month that allowed Americans to cash out their accounts.
PokerStars, whose American operations were frozen on April 15 when the U.S. Department of Justice shut down the company's website, said it was still operating Internet gambling sites in other European markets. The company is licensed in the Isle of Man.
Eleven individuals, including the founders of PokerStars, FullTilt Poker and Absolute Poker, were charged by federal prosecutors with money laundering, bank fraud, and operating illegal gambling businesses in a nine-count indictment unsealed in New York. The websites were frozen and the government said it was seeking $3 billion in money laundering penalties.
FullTilt Poker struck a similar agreement with the Justice Department to return customers' balances, but it was unclear if funds had been returned.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
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Newsflash, Peeps Repub of China became the 5th nation to join the US war on online poker. Way to make the world safe for lotteries and other state owned gambling with such great payoffs for the players. You're a disgrace, while you sit there watching tapes of your latest GLAAD PRIDE march, Macao is now 10 times more profitable than Vegas and growing like mad. Unlike you, every Chinaman knows his government's a crook, and pays it no mind unless facing the barrel of a gun.
money laundering, bank fraud, and operating illegal gambling .... nice business to be in, no wonder the government wants in.
players are lucky for their refunds, how about all the rock stars who made money from these sites just to advertise, are they hiding.
....The poker world is waiting for Howard Lederer to do the perp walk.........when perps do the perping they must do the perp walk.......start walking Howard.
Coloma, what you have expressed is what I have always suspected about the Internet poker sites.
It is my opinion that it is a good thing to shut down these Internet poker sites, because the systems are just too open to cheating.