The U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Rod J. Rosenstein, today announced that Bodog Entertainment Group S.A. has been indicted for money laundering conspiracy and operating an illegal gambling business that provided services to U.S. customers in the U.S. Also indicted were Calvin Ayre, James Philip, David Ferguson and Derrick Maloney, all from Canada.
The U.S. Attorney is alleging that the defendants and their conspirators moved funds from Bodog’s accounts located in Canada, Switzerland, England, Malta, and elsewhere to pay winnings to gamblers, and to pay media brokers and advertisers located in the U.S. They are also alleged to have directed payment processors to send at least US$100 million by wire and by cheques to gamblers.
Acting IRS Special Agent in Charge Eric Hylton said: “Laundering money from illegal activity such as illegal internet gambling is a crime. Regardless of how the money changes hands – via cash, check, wire transfers or credit cards – and regardless of where the money is stored – in a U.S. financial institution or an offshore bank – we will trace the funds.”
The money laundering charges will facilitate the extradition of the four non-corporate defendants from Canada to the U.S. Under the FATF Recommendations, extradition requests for money laundering must be executed by Canada without delay. When a money laundering charge is involved, Canada should allow direct transmission of requests for provisional arrests to the U.S. and should extradite persons based only on warrants of arrests or judgments.