Thursday, January 18, 2007

NETeller Founders John Lefebvre and Steve Lawrence were detained in the
United States on Monday, January 15th, 2006. The news of their detainment,
which was originally reported by Gambling911.com late Monday evening, sent
shockwaves through the online gambling industry immediately. NETeller, based
out of the Isle of Man, is publicly traded on the London exchange (AIM) and
states on their website they are "the world's largest independent money
transfer business". The most recent annual report states that the company
took in revenues of $172.1 Million. Sources from Costa Rica have reported to
Point-Spreads.com that John Lefebvre's wife was from Southern California and
that may have been the residence were he was apprehended. Steve Lawrence was
the Chairmen of NETeller up until October 13th, 2005 and reports have him
being apprehended in New York. Some reports have both Lawrence and Lefebvre
still working with the company up until November 2005. When we originally
contacted NETeller by phone at 12:05 AM EST Tuesday we were told: After
waiting on hold due to "extremely high call volumes" for 1 hour, we finally
got a CS representative on the phone again at 2:05 AM EST Tuesday and were
told: "They were detained but no charges have been filed at this time." The
besieged online gambling industry has been hit hard over the last six
months. In July, the DoJ arrested BetonSports PLC CEO David Carruthers.
Carruthers was on a layover between Costa Rica and the United Kingdom in the
Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and is currently out on house arrest awaiting
trial in Missouri on money laundering and tax evasion. BetonSports Founders
Gary Kaplan and Tom "Norm" Miller are still at large. Approximately one
month after the arrest of Carruthers, the US Congress passed the UIGEA
(Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006), which made it illegal
for financial companies to knowingly process internet gambling transactions.
UIGEA was signed into law by President George W. Bush in November 2006.