Payment Processors File Suit Against U.S. for Return of Seized Internet Poker Funds
Account Services Corporation, which is one of a few Internet payment processors that services players in the United States, has recently asked a federal judge to return around $14 million that they believe was seized in an improper manner by authorities of the Southern District of New York Department of Justice. The Account Services Corporation was one of the processors that was targeted by the Department of Justice, as they had around $40 million, mainly winning payments and deposits that had been returned, seized in early June of this year.
The motion, which was field on July 10th by a San Diego attorney in the U.S. District Court of Southern California, involves a couple of bank accounts that were used in Internet poker processing payments. The larger of the two a accounts had around $13 million seized and was from a Wells Fargo bank and another $1 million seized by two accounts at Union Bank of San Diego. Wells Fargo was served with a warrant and the Union Bank was then served with a warrant-less seizure.
13,800 Internet players were affected by the seizure of funds by the Account Services Corporation banks alone even though Internet poker websites, such as PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker made good on seized funds for their customers quickly pending the legal matter’s legal resolution.
Some of the main arguments made by Account Services Corporation are:
• The seizure of the money looks to be made under a statute of the Illegal Gambling Business Act of 1970 (IGBA) even though Account Services makes the allegations that the act does not deal with the seizure and that the activities of Account Services are not in violation of the IGBA.
• The Southern District of New York’s Department of Justice office acted in no regard for the constitutional rights of the parties involved.
• Most of the funds that were seized were funds of the poker players themselves who could not have been in violation of the law according to the involved statute.
Most of the 40-page motion outlines clear-cut arguments of why poker should be seen as a skill game because of strategy of the game to the wording of why words like “bet” are different in meaning in the game of poker compared to the forms of gambling that are illegal under the IGBA.
The Poker Players Alliance, which has over 1 million members in the USA, praised the motion and released a statement that said, “On behalf of the players whose money was seized by the government, the PPA is pleased that Account Services took this step of filing its motion and contesting the seizure. We fully endorse the arguments that Account Services has included in their filing that online poker is a game of skill and not the type of illegal gambling activity that is prohibited by Federal Law. The PPA will likely seek to get involved in this action to ensure that the voice of U.S. poker players are heard and their freedom to play the skill game of online poker is preserved – without the threat of the government seizing their money.
