NETELLER FOUNDER PLEADS GUILTY
June 30, 2007 — A founder of NETeller PLC, a payment processor for gambling Web sites, pleaded guilty to the illegal transfer of billions of dollars from U.S. citizens to overseas gambling companies.
Stephen Lawrence, 47, a former director of the Isle of Man-based company, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel in New York. He agreed to forfeit $100 million and to help prosecutors with their investigation of the transfers. Lawrence and John Lefebvre, another founder and ex-director, were arrested Jan. 15 on charges of conspiring to promote illegal offshore gambling.
“I became aware that the U.S. had legislation barring certain transactions online,” Lawrence told the judge, who set a sentencing date for Oct. 29. “With this knowledge, I came to understand that providing payment services to online gambling businesses serving customers in the United States was wrong.”
Lawrence faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, the judge said. His arrest is part of a U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling.
Explore posts in the same categories: money