Online Gambling Site PartyGaming Settles With US
After interminable talks to avert further investigation and threats by the US Department of Justice, PartyGaming announced today that it has reached an agreement to end the persecution. The online gambling and Internet casino operator will pay $105 million to resolve the issue and clear its status with US law enforcement.
The deal with the US Attorney's Office for New York's Southern District is a Non-Prosecution Agreement, and holds the US to a commitment to not prosecute PartyGaming for actions prior to the passage of the UIGEA in 2006.
In return, PartyGaming will pay the agreed sum and accept a so-called Statement of Facts as truth. The statement includes admission that PartyGaming, before the UIGEA, allowed US residents to participate in poker and casino gambling at Internet gaming sites, facts that no one disputes.
The statement also contains admission by PartyGaming that payment transactions conducted during that period were against US law, a matter that is highly disputable.
"It has been a long and complex process but we have reached an amicable solution with the USAO that makes commercial sense for our business and is in the best interests of shareholders," said PartyGaming CEO Jim Ryan, explaining why the company compromised where many felt the US was in the wrong.
"We are now well-placed to seize organic as well as strategic opportunities that previously were beyond our reach,” Ryan concluded.
