Online Gambling Pays Off for US in Non-Prosecutions

Another company is extorted into making payment to the US government for having processed online gambling payments, even though it was not against the law at the time and it stopped those transactions years ago.

The US government continues to use non-prosecution and forfeiture deals as major sources of revenue in criminal investigations in general and online gambling inquiries in specific. The latest case involves Optimal Group, which has announced it will forfeit over $19 million in exchange for government agreement to end pursuit in the case.

The deal follows the payment of hundreds of millions in dollars by PartyGaming co-founder Anurag Dikshit, as well as negotiations by online gambling payment processors to give up tens of millions to avoid continued US persecution for violation of non-existent federal laws against Internet gaming. Other payment companies have had numerous bank accounts seized by the US against their will.

Forfeitures and non-prosecution payments have earned the US settlements of billions of total dollars, turning the pursuit of justice into a profit-making enterprise. Rather than face the expense and uncertainty of  enduring years of federal agents seeking to find the slightest misstep, companies and individuals turn over fortunes to the government.

Optimal had been involved in online gambling payments for about two years, from 2004 to the passage of the UIGEA in 2006. Although implementation of the UIGEA does not go into effect until December 1st of this year, US authorities have acted as if the controversial law were established with the Constitution.

In fact, Optimal is no longer in the payment processing business. Currently, the company specializes in consumer electronics. But, for the time-warping feds, an offense in the past against a not-yet existing law can lead to a huge cash profit, when no one can bear the cost of gambling against them.