Bodog Not available in the U.S. To: Janet Novack and William P. Barrett <email address not displayed> Your Name: Email address: Subject: Message: Janet Novack and William P. Barrett wrote on the message board: > The U.S. government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts > linked to Bodog, the giant, illegal-under-U.S.-law Internet gaming > operation founded by Canadian tycoon Calvin Ayre. > > Federal filings make very clear that a serious criminal investigation > of the Bodog enterprise is ongoing. At a minimum, word of the seizures > is likely to rattle the confidence of U.S.-based online gamblers that > they will receive their winnings, not only from Bodog but from the > industry's other remaining participants. > > Detailed in court filings in a Baltimore federal court, the > Bodog-related seizures from such well-known institutions as Wachovia > (nyse: WB - news - people ), Bank of America (nyse: BAC - news - > people ), SunTrust Banks (nyse: STI - news - people ) and Regions > Bank, a unit of Regions Financial (nyse: RF - news - people ), > increase the possibility of criminal action against Ayre himself. > There already has been published speculation in his native Canada that > he is under secret indictment somewhere in the U.S. > > The U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore, which launched the two > lawsuits to take the $24 million, did not respond to a request for > comment. > > The flamboyant Ayre--media reports often call him a "playboy"--is now > believed to be in Antigua and Barbuda, a country in the eastern > Caribbean. He has denied being on the lam. A request on Wednesday for > comment from Ayre, sent through the Web site of his Antigua-based > Calvin Ayre Foundation, was not immediately returned. Nor were call > and e-mail messages sent to public relations contacts listed on > Bodog's Web site. > > In early 2006 Ayre rocketed to international prominence--and the cover > of Forbes magazine' annual issue on the world's billionaires--for his > stewardship from Costa Rica of Bodog Entertainment Group and his open > flouting of authorities in the U.S., his major market. The story > headline: "Catch Me If You Can." The operation was said at the time to > be handling $7.3 billion yearly in poker, casino and sports event > wagers. > > But since then, Ayre has been the subject of law-enforcement raids > abroad and growing regulatory scrutiny, especially in the U.S. In late > 2006 President Bush signed a law strengthening the prohibition on > online gambling. Ayre fell off the Forbes worldwide billionaires list > after just one year, amid a decline in his industry's fortunes. > > In overall actions against the industry, federal prosecutors in New > York have charged executives of Neteller with illegally processing > online gaming transactions. This summer, Canada's ESI Entertainment > Systems, an Internet payment business, entered into a "deferred > prosecution agreement" with the same prosecutors. The company admitted > to criminal wrongdoing and agreed to disgorge $9.1 million in criminal > proceeds for its role in processing $2 billion in Internet gambling > payments for hundreds of thousands of U.S. customers. Criminal cases > have been started against various online gambling shops. > > Ayre has been trying to put legal distance between himself and the > operation he founded in the 1990s. For years its business was run > through Internet servers belonging to Mohawk Internet Technologies, > located on the Kahnawake Reserve Indian reservation in Quebec, Canada. > In September 2007 Bodog said its North American operations would be > licensed to Morris Mohawk Group, also located on the reservation and > run by tribal chief Alwyn Morris. > > Three months ago, Ayre, now 47, said he had transferred ownership of > Bodog itself to Morris Mohawk Group. "It's true; I'm packing it in," > Ayre wrote on a Web site. > > Court filings in Maryland say that in January and February a total of > $14.2 million was seized from accounts in the name of JBL Services and > Transaction Solutions at Wachovia, Regions Bank, Bank of America and > Sun Trust Bank. In July, filings say, another $9.9 million was found > in eight accounts at Nevada State Bank, a unit of Zion Bancorporation > (nasdaq: ZION - news - people ), in the name of Zaftig Instantly > Processed Payments, doing business as ZipPayments.com. The companies > are described as helping to facilitate parts of the Bodog operation. > > The court papers detail an elaborate international structure put > together to allow Bodog to collect money and write checks to winning > gamblers in the U.S. One affidavit by Randall S. Carrow, a special > agent with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation > Division, said that $248 million involving entities linked to Bodog > was processed through Wachovia Bank, from which $11 million of the $24 > million was seized. > > In a statement to Forbes, Wachovia said the bank cooperated with law > enforcement, doesn't knowingly allow Internet gaming operations to > open accounts, and the funds ending up at the bank were in accounts of > a third-party credit card servicer. The statement also hinted that > various accounts might have been kept open at the request of > investigators to aid their efforts. > > According to Carrow's detailed sworn statements, the IRS's Criminal > Investigation Division started looking at Bodog in 2003 and opened a > formal probe in 2006. The extensive sleuthing has involved close > examination of public and bank records, the enlisting of unnamed > cooperating witnesses and informants, and undercover efforts to make > bets on football and collect winnings. > > Ayre, says Carrow's statement, is president of Middleton Financial, a > Nevada corporation described as a key cog in the U.S. Bodog machinery, > as well as Stratham Finance, said to be based in Malta. Other entities > linked to Ayre in the court filings are Gateway Financial Services, > EBanx Ltd., Gregor Financial Ltd. and Calvtek Industries. The filings > list dozens of businesses involved in processing Bodog transactions. > > The ongoing federal pressure to disrupt Bodog's financial transactions > may be bearing fruit. Carrow's affidavits say several checks issued > from Bodog to its undercover gambler bounced. > > A break in the inquiry came in May, one of Carrow's affidavits says, > when an undercover operative for "another state's gambling commission" > received a check that didn't bounce from an account at Nevada State > Bank, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. That led to the $9.9 > million seizure this month. The bank had no immediate comment. > > Carrow's affidavits were filed in connection with the U.S.'s > successful efforts to get a federal judge to authorize the seizures. > But to keep the money permanently, federal prosecutors must file a > civil lawsuit and allow a challenge by anyone with a claimed interest. > No one fought the $14.2 million seizure, and it was ordered forfeited > to the feds. The lawsuit over the $9.9 million--its official name is > United States of America v. $9,869,283.05--was just filed. > > Even before the advent of Bodog, Ayre carried considerable baggage. > Close family members were convicted of drug trafficking. (Ayer himself > was never charged.) In 1996 Ayre was banned for 20 years from the > British Columbia securities industry for stock market offenses. By > that time, he was already moving into online gaming. > > "One of the things that drives me is the excitement that I could > fail," he told Forbes in 2006. "What better buzz can you get?" > > Code: Enter the following code: (required) Consider sharing your comments with the other readers of the message board. They may benefit from your insights If you decide not to send email, post a follow up instead, or return to the original message Online Poker Rooms