23 Nov 2006 editorial entitled First UIGEA Prosecutions for Online Casino Companies

First UIGEA Prosecutions for Online Casino Companies

Recently, unspecified criminal charges have been made against more than 24 online casino companies and individuals who work or own these online gambling firms. These charges have to do with these corporations involvement, through four states, with a billion-dollar-a-year online casinos site. The announcement of this incident came from the Queens DA Office. Thirty-two sports book agents have been raided in New York due to these charges.

According to Kevin Ryan, the Queens District Attorney, this incident is ‘...one of the first times that a Web designer corporation and the companies that maintain the Web sites have been charged.’ He went on to say that the DA had also initiated a US 500 million dollar asset forfeiture case. Authorities declined to name any of the online casino companies charged. He said the arrests by the DA’s office and the New York Police Department represent the first time that online casino gambling charges have been made since President George W. Bush signed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act into law last month.

The charges come after a two-year international investigation that focused on online casino gambling. As the anti-gambling law goes into action, more and more online casino companies are finding it hard to keep their foothold in the US. This is why news of court cases and charges for illegal gambling are being seen worldwide. This will most likely only be the beginning of a long string of legal battles regarding the online casino industry.