This story was published more than 7 years ago.
In an application for a seizure warrant through the US District Court in Philadelphia, a federal investigator claimed that Costa Rica based betting site 5Dimes laundered $2 million by having American customers fund their account using Amazon gift cards.
The revelation comes as the federal government is trying to shut down the 5Dimes site, and the application for the warrant claims that used the company names GC Lover and Blue Iguana to accept the cards, thus laundering funds. On their site, 5Dimes reportedly instructed players to buy the Amazon cards at a retail location and then send them a picture to fund their account. The company also reportedly offered a 10% boost on winnings if you accepted Amazon gift cards as a payout method.
The warrant application claims in part: "[T]he investigation has determined that 5Dimes has developed an alternative to the traditional online financial payment methods, which is unavailable to 5Dimes under federal law, in order to operate its illegal betting operation in the U.S. This illegal alternative relies on the use of [Amazon gift cards], in violation of Amazon's terms of service."
As of press time both Amazon and 5Dimes declined comment.
Casino Listings will update this story as we learn more about the application and legal action as it arises.
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Comments
Anyone with money in 5Dimes needs to withdraw immediately, as it seems likely that the money will be seized.
This also tells me that the government doesn't understand that gambling is GOING to happen, no matter what the government does to try and stop it. The sites and players will find ways to skirt the system, and it is pointless to continue to go after them like this.
Why not use your time and resources to actually regulate the activity and use the tax funds raised toward something constructive?
The sad thing about this is that 5Dimes is generally considered one of the "good guys". They pay their winners quickly and from what I have been told, offer a good reliable service to their punters. Note they also have a couple of separate casinos like Sportbet Casino and Island Casino.
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I'm fully agree with your words barbadosslim93, it will be better the US government to regulate in some way this business instead of making obstacles to the online operators, anyway I think the authorities almost anywhere in the world are still not yet quite adequate on the online gambling business.
Has there been any recent news (from when this was posted until now)?
I actually played at this site not too long ago so I'm unsure about the current situation. I'd been told that they were fairly good.
I have also heard good things about them but didn't have much experience with them personally. I would actually be also interested in the events in this matter.
They always have been reliable in the past. We'll check them out again and update our reviews. At the time we put a warning up due to the risk of players not being paid and the sites being shut down. Better to be safe than sorry, particularly as they are being targeted.
2 blck, actmyname
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