Tzvetkoff Arrest is First Linked to UIGEA
The infamous Department of Justice in the Southern District of New York is at it again.
An Australian man, Daniel Tzvetkoff, 27, was arrested Friday morning in Las Vegas for processing more than $500 million to Internet gambling companies between February of 2008 and March of 2009.
The indictment charges Tzvetkoff with bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to operate and finance an illegal gambling business, and processing electronic fund transfers in violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006, making it the first criminal case to involve the UIGEA.
The impact of the arrest to poker operators and the poker-playing public is limited at this point. Tzvetkoff hasn't been involved in processing transactions in more than a year, and, unlike in previous cases involving the SDNY, there is no splashy funds seizure of withdrawals on the way to American players.
Tzvetkoff isn't popular with the poker operators he previously served. The Australian newspaper Courier-Mail reported in June that Full Tilt Poker, through the Kolyma Corporation, sued Tzvetkoff's company, Intabill, for $52 million Australian, or about $48.5 million U.S. dollars, that were alleged not to be passed on to the site. The Courier-Mail also wrote that Tzvetkoff's company owed money to PokerStars and Absolute Poker.
The allegations against Tzvetkoff for defrauding the sites could stop the poker community, including the Poker Players Alliance, from getting involved in the case.
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