Neteller Watch

Case Postponed

2007-03-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

It has been reported that the US Government has delayed the NETeller hearing. Co-founders Stephen Lawrence and John LeFebvre, were arrested on a charge of conspiracy to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling.

Rumours that the case could be dropped boosted online gaming stocks recently, and this delay may be a response to recent activity from lobbyists.

http://www.igamingbusiness.com/article-detail.php?articleID=13119

Will charges against Neteller be dropped?

2007-03-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Several media outlets are reporting that Senator Barney Frank could be working on a bill that would repeal the UIGEA and also that charges may be dropped against Neteller directors John Lefebvre and Stephen Lawrence. Below is some key quotes from a few media reports today.

March 14 (Bloomberg ) -- Online-gambling stocks rose after the Financial Times said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank wants to repeal a law passed last year that criminalized the industry.

Shares of Gibraltar-based PartyGaming Plc, the world's biggest Internet poker operator, had their biggest gain in 15 months. Shares of 888 Holdings Plc and SportingBet Plc also advanced in London.

``I am working on legislation to cut back on this Internet gambling thing,'' the FT cited Frank as saying on its Web site, referring to last year's law. ``I think it's preposterous,'' and the law is one of the ``stupidest'' ever passed, the FT cited him as saying. ``Maybe we can make some money off it,' he added.

Online-gaming stocks plummeted across Europe in October after Congress unexpectedly banned the collection of credit-card payments from gambling Web sites.

``The slightest indicator that operators may get business back in the U.S. is going to get speculators coming in,'' said Andrew French, a sales trader at E*Trade Securities in London.

http://gamingintelligencegroup.com/gig/content/view/182/2/

Neteller Customer Coalition Created

2007-03-14T04:29:00.000-07:00

Almost immediately following the arrests of Neteller's two founders, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre on January 15, Neteller froze the accounts of all US customers, leaving them no method for withdrawal. In addition $55 million in pending transactions was seized by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York (USAO). 200 angry Neteller customers, who collectively have no less than $500,000 locked up at NETeller, have now joined forces in the Neteller Customer Coalition in order to be prepared in the event legal action may be required to get their funds released.

According to a spokesman of the Neteller Customer Coalition some members have over $80,000 stuck at Neteller. Collectively the 200 members are worth $500,000 of frozen Neteller dollars. In the last week membership of the group almost tripled, so expect these numbers to grow exponentially.

If you are also affected by the Neteller disaster, please take a few minutes of your time to join the Neteller Customer Coalition before reading further. You can join the Coalition at the following url:

http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/NetellerCustomerCoalition/

Additional urls providing more information can be found at the bottom of this article.

Another individual duped by Neteller and/or the DOJ is Isaac Haxton, who won $800,000 finishing 2nd in PokerStars' Caribbean Adventure tournament in the Bahamas. After depositing his winnings from his PokerStars account to Neteller it now sits there - being frozen indefinitely. Besides not knowing when the funds will be released, if ever, Neteller also refused to provide information regarding the beneficiaries of any interest that may accrue to the frozen funds, what that interest rate is and who controls the funds whilst they are frozen.

In fact Neteller doesn't communicate with their former US customers at all. A spokesman of the Neteller Customer Coalition, who also moderates the group, summarized Neteller's lack of professionalism in this respect as follows: "They have stonewalled everyone. Completely. The press, customers and site operators alike. They are sticking to what's in their February 8 press release and saying absolutely nothing else. They have apparently disconnected some phone numbers because irate customers keep badgering them. They killed their online live chat feature weeks ago. Their lack of communication right now is very, very frustrating."

In the meantime the DOJ still hasn't decided whether they will continue with the case against NETeller's two founders, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, who were both both charged with conspiring to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling, and if convicted could face a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment. However this Friday US Attorney Michael J. Garcia will make an announcement whether the DOJ will be proceeding with the case.

The Neteller Customer Coalition has identified the following scenarios depending on the exact nature of Garcia's announcement:

CASE PROCEEDS: The case will probably drag out for months, maybe years. This outcome will likely trigger legal action from at least some of NETeller's customers. This process could start as early as Monday, March 19, following Friday's announcement from US Attorney Michael J. Garcia about whether the DOJ will be proceeding with the case. If no word comes from NETeller shortly thereafter, some members are expected to pull the trigger.

CASE ABANDONED: When will NETeller re-certify accounts? What will withdrawal options be?

CASE DELAYED: This outcome may also trigger legal action. How long should we reasonably be expected to wait?

DOJ & NETELLER STRIKE A DEAL: Hard to speculate what the terms might be.

NETELLER MAKES NO STATEMENT: Unacceptable. Period.

NETELLER CUSTOMERS FILE SUIT: Class-action? Or just a gaggle of plaintiffs? How is a lawyer selected? What is the jurisdiction? Isle of Man (as NETeller's terms specify)? Or location of primary litigant(s)? How will the lawyer be compensated? What happens if NETeller agrees to release funds regardless of lawyer's actions? Is he still compensated? How are court costs covered in the meantime? BTW everyone who agreed to Neteller's Terms of Service (updated last September after the UIGEA was passed) opted out of the right to participate in a class-action lawsuit against NETeller!

OTHER?
Make sure you join the Neteller Customer Coalition as soon as possible. It's better to be assembled and organized now -- before action is necessary -- than later, in the 11th hour. Make your voice heard. The Neteller Customer Coalition is a great place to exchange ideas. It's also very healthy for people to be able to vent and not feel so helpless.

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2007-03-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

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Neteller to be Represented by Highest Grossing Law Firm

2007-03-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Clifford Chance is the largest law firm in the world by revenue, becoming the world's first billion-dollar business firm (and the biggest billing law firm ever) in 2006, registering record revenues of $2.039 billion, with partners sharing a profit of $660 million. In the same year, Clifford Chance topped three tables for worldwide M&A, advising on 444 deals globally which were valued at a total of $490 billion, and was named "Law Firm of the Year" at The Lawyer Awards held in London on June 27, 2006.

http://www.legalweek.com/Articles/1014069/CC+called+in+as+online+gaming+company+faces+US+fraud.html

Cease and desist order served on newbie processor Youteller

2007-03-05T01:25:00.000-08:00

Point spreads.com reports that Youteller.com, the nascent third party financial processor which launched recently (see previous Online-Casinos.com/InfoPowa reports) has attracted the legal wrath of embattled Neteller.com.

The gambling information portal reports that NETeller legal eagles have served a cease and desist order on Youteller, claiming that the newcomer is infringing on its registered trademark and believes that parent company Seed Capital's use of the YouTeller brand will cause consumer confusion.

See the rest of the article here: http://www.online-casinos.com/news/news4109.asp

Neteller to Sue YouTeller

2007-03-02T13:46:00.000-08:00

Beleaguered online third party payment processor NETeller has threatened to take legal action against YouTeller, a new processor that promises to take over where NETeller left off in the US-focused Internet gambling sector. Many operators are anxiously awaiting YouTeller's debut, though there is a high degree of caution.

http://www.gambling911.com/NETeller-Legal-Action-Youteller-030207.html

One of the Best Posts on the Neteller Debacle

2007-03-02T10:15:00.000-08:00

Found on the Neteller Sucks Yahoo group:

I used to work at an online sportsbook and until recently ran my own
affiliate site.

I feel compelled to write this because i've known this industry and
Netteler for a long time. I think they're getting an unfair rap,
although like you I'm also pissed off about not getting funds owed to
me. And i have quite a bit tied up!

But some perpective is required. Take a moment to think about this please.

1. COMPLAINTS ABOUT NETELLER "keeping us in the dark".

Netteler most likely has no updates so what do you expect?
Do you want them to repeat themselves over and over again?

I suspect you won't be satisfied with that either.

The bottom line is, they are locked up in legal procedings with the
DOJ and until this is resolved we won't get our money back.

There is nothing further to say ...because...well....there is simply
nothing more to say.

What more do you want them to say?

Read their press releases, read the FAQ's on their site, etc.
It's all there in black & white. Legal proceeding with our government take ages. Blame the gov.

In the mean time the message will remain the same like it or not.

2. Any ideas about Netteler being some kind 'evil entity' that has
ulterior motives for withholding our funds shows a complete lack of
rational or maturity. It's pure sensationalist garbage, straight out
of the columns of that cheap hack site gambling911 run by Mr Costigan.

They're a company like any other company. They have staff, people
like me and you who try to do a 9-5 job, people with families.
They're not some mobsters or something. Computer programmers,
accountants, call centre staff, techies, etc. ...just regular people
like you and I.

Every day that goes by where they aren't able to return our money it
hurts their international business and future potential more and
more. It's in THEIR interests to get us our money back as quickly as
possible. But unfortunately they can't for reasons beyond their
control.

The negative publicity and harm to their reputation alone overrides
any supposed benefit they would gain for maliciously holding back our
money.

3. For all the complaints about netteler, the US government seems to
get off lightly.

And for those that dispute the FACTS about Neteller having funds
seized by the FBI, I encourage you to contact the FBI or do some
READING online. The FBI's own Neil Donovan is quoted by numerous
sources as confirming that Neteller had funds seized that were being
sent back to us.

4. And then...

For all the threats of suing netteler, accusations about them
not "wanting" to pay us our money back, I don't think anyone has
taken the time to actually understand WHY Netteler aren't able to pay
us back.

You forget that the last time they tried to do that the US gov seized
something like 50 mil of our funds intended to be paid back to us.

So for all the bitchiness out there I'd love someone with an inkling
of banking to actually explain how they should pay us our money
back....

Lets see....they try wire us our money,....the US Fed will intercept
it alla the last 50 mil, and more money will be tied up....oops, I
guess that doesn't work.

Well how about they use ACH ....oh wait, they tried that and 50 mil
got seized by the feds....guess that won't work either.

I know what you're thinking....send us checks! Um....okay so which
bank should issue these checks....umm...lets see....none of their
British banks want to touch these funds anymore for fear of our
government jumping on them.

And they wouldn't even be able to issue us US dollar checks because
as far as I know these would identify the source of the funds to the
US fed and they would quickly be frozen.

The only possible alternative would be for Netteler to send us other
currency checks, and issue them from some bank that actually doesn't
have an issue doing this.

Do you honestly think it's that easy to find a reputable 1st world
bank that will do this? I encourage you to phone up a reputable bank
and ask them yourselves.

And it's not impossible that the FBI (they're not that stupid) would
cotton on to this, figure our where the funds originate from, and
then freeze those funds.

5. And one last thing....

Chris Costigan is a cheap media hack that publishes absolute
sensationalist unsubstantiated crap on his website.

Here's a guy that goes out of his way to encourage non US residents
to stop using netteler. Yet this same guy has his bread buttered by
companies that rely on Neteller for signicant NON US business. A
quick visit to his site immediately shows you the banners of the
likes of Mansion, Canbet, Doyles Room, etc. These very sites almost
certainly rely on Netteler to process millions of non-US transactions
for them.

And these sites in turn pay Chris (because lets face it he's hardly
impartial) affiliate revenue...so he's effectively spiting the hand
that feeds him. If he got his way and all non US Netteler customers
stopped using neteller then he would cause THE MERCHANTS THAT PAY HIM
to lose potentially MILLIONS OF DOLLARS! ....oh the irony.

I'm surprised that none of these gambling sites have had a word with
him about this.

Funny how he never asks those sites for interviews or
opinion....instead he publishes so-called quotes from casino
merchants that wish to remain "anonymous".....how convenient. I guess
the truth doesn't sell as well garbage.

I hope you all get your money back. I know I'm as frustrated as the
rest of you. Let's just hope it happens soon, but in the meantime i
think we should all just excersize some common sense.

Isaac Haxton Stuck $800K

2007-03-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

Not many of us are stuck with $800k in Neteller, but you have to feel for this guy. After winning a Poker Stars event in the Carribean and depositing this money to his Poker Stars account, the Neteller founders were arrested. His money was then frozen as evidence. Listen to him tell the story.

Tracking Neteller Events

2007-03-02T09:36:00.000-08:00

There are a number of sites tracking the Neteller events. Here are some useful links.

Possible Lawsuit from Non-US Neteller Customers
http://pokerbonus.blog.co.uk/?tag=neteller

Neteller Sucks Yahoo Group
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/netellersucks/

Pokernews Coverage
http://www.pokernews.com/search/?q=neteller

Neteller Watch Launched!

2007-03-02T08:59:00.000-08:00

CNBC coverage on YouTube from 1/17/07