Legal Action Prompted Everleaf's U.S. Pullout

Online poker site Diamond Flush is citing government legal documents in claiming that Everleaf Poker's decision to pullout of the American market was in fact due to legal action by the U.S. government.

The claim flies in contrast to the comments of one Everleaf Poker skin, which claimed legal action was not a part of the decision. The documents that were obtained by the websites claim that Liechtenstein payment processor Causcash Entertainment was the recipient of a seizure action by a Secret Service task force in Seattle Washington. Washington is one state that defines internet gambling as a criminal offense.

The report claims that Causcash Entertainment processed financial transactions for Everleaf Poker. Reportedly Secret Service agents registered accounts under false identities and played poker on the Everleaf network in order to follow the financial trail.

The undercover agents also followed individuals and their transactions, including various poker pros. The court documents detail one player who got about $85,000 through Causcash.

The report states that:

"A U.S. bank account used by Causash rarely held funds, but almost immediately converted the foreign currency deposits to U.S. dollars and transferred the funds to other bank accounts. Between January 2010 and August 2011, Causash sent a total of 273 wire transfers to a Bank of New York account, totaling $ 734,835.00."

"A warrant was issued in October 2011, commanding Bank of N.Y. to seize wire transfers to/from Causash via the specified bank account, over a two-week period. No wires during the period in question were seized, but pursuant to a second amended warrant, an account balance of $ 27,465.93 was seized and forwarded to the U.S. Secret Service."

Charges against the payment processor include: committing, aiding and abetting 18 U.S.Code 1960(a), Prohibition of unlicensed money transmitting businesses,18 U.S.Code 1084(a) Transmission of Wagering Information(The Wire Act), and 18 U.S.Code 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) and 1956(a)(1)(B)(i) Money Laundering.

Everleaf Poker spoke to Diamond Flush, confirming that the seizure of funds has indeed occurred, saying the amount was more than the $27,000 claimed in court documents. The site is saying that there will be no impact to player accounts, as the site segregates its operating capital from player funds.

Diamond Flush has published the court papers online. They are available at: https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0BxNSL...