Latest Gaming Arrests and Your NeTeller Account



Many players use NeTeller like a warm blanket on a cold night when they transfer money, but what does all of this mean?

The questions of “What is going to happen to NeTeller?’ and “Should all funds be withdrawn?” has kept the staff of OSGA abuzz for the last two days. This latest activity comes on the heels of the arrests of Stephen Eric Lawrence and John David Lefebvre, for creating and operating NeTeller. However, it should be noted that these two men are no longer on the board of directors at NeTeller and are at best today, just large stockholders in the company.

This case will certainly impact NeTeller, but at this point, they have not been dragged into court proceedings or had any board members placed under arrest. We would like to point out to any current NeTeller executive that now might not be the best time to travel to the United States. So today, NeTeller is still processing transactions.

Still, the industry itself has been preparing for NeTeller to discontinue it business with US Customers. It has been widely speculated that once the Unlawful Gambling Act, passed in October of 2006, gets some regulation, enforcement and penalties behind it, NeTeller would leave the US marketplace. This exodus has been projected in late Spring. Operators around the world have been preparing for this by exploring new payment options. Regardless of what transpires with NeTeller, expect to see you favorite gambling house offer you incentives to use their new payment solutions.

Who knows? Maybe NeTeller will finally be the company to put up a fight. After all, one of the main ways to fund NeTeller is directly from your bank account. Wouldn’t it be easy to make a case that Bank of America or Chase or Citibank were also participants in this illegal gambling/money laundering enterprise. Many sportsbooks got wide acceptance of credit card deposits back in 2000 & 2001, which prosecutors quote in their Press Release. Could it not be construed that Visa and MasterCard are culprits to?  Ouch! Now the US government would be stepping on some toes…..

Or, possibly the WTO would finally say enough is enough. You cannot offer internet wagering on lottery and horses between the states without offering internet wagering to companies around the world. We will not stand by and watch another International company get crushed by the US.

Perhaps this is all another way to rid the marketplace of the top operators, this time in the payment solutions layer of the business. After David Carruthers was arrested, gaming companies fled like refugees from the US Market. Players did not stop wagering, but some of the top sportsbooks, poker rooms and online casinos in the world abandoned them. Maybe the Department of Justice hopes these latest arrests will trigger other payment processors to leave the US as well, making an industry that is reeling, stumble a little more.

Many players use NeTeller like a warm blanket on a cold night when they transfer money. So reliable. So Quick. And So EASY. Most players often leave a good deal of money in NeTeller, to transfer into another book or back into their current one after a bad run. The only positive out of today’s news is that NeTeller’s funds are not frozen. We urge you not be foolish and wait to withdraw until this happens. If you normally keep a few thousand in NeTeller, make it a few hundred instead. Look at NeTeller only to transfer, at least until the full ramifications of this most recent incident are felt.

In these pivotal time in the gaming inidustry, it is best to check OSGA everyday.


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