September 15, 2009 (CAP Newswire) — It’s getting to be pretty routine, unfortunately, but authorities acting at the federal level have seized even more private bank accounts in the U.S. The grounds? The accounts are somehow related to online gambling, which U.S. law (sort of) forbids by way of its Wire Act and UIGEA laws.
In late July, feds successfully seized the contents of three bank accounts, which were said to be in the name of Electracash, Inc., a payment processing company. Electracash, which, according to the Baltimore City Paper is owned by Edward Courdy, has not commented.
And earlier this month, the same U.S. authorities filed three more seizure warrants for bank account contents, saying in the warrants that the accounts were “forfeitable” as “proceeds of an illegal gambling business … involved in money laundering transactions.”
“In all six seizure warrants, the investigators’ affidavits remain under seal,” writes Van Smith in the Baltimore City Paper, “so details about the cases remain shrouded. The orders to seal the affidavits in the Electracash seizures, signed by U.S. District Court magistrate judge James Bredar, say they will remain sealed ‘until further order of this court, or until January 20, 2010, whichever is earlier.’”
Sadly, as the UIGEA is readied for a fuller implementation later this year, and as U.S. lawmakers appear uninterested in changing the laws this year, more and more of these kinds of cases are likely.