Internet poker company founder pleads not guilty

AP Photo/Tim Ireland

AP Photo/Tim Ireland

Published Feb 24, 2017

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New York - The founder of what had been

one of the largest online poker websites agreed on Thursday to

confront US charges stemming from a long-running criminal case

targeting internet firms like his operating illegally in the

United States.

Scott Tom, who founded Costa Rica-based Absolute Poker,

pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to charges he

violated a federal internet gambling law and engaged in a

money-laundering conspiracy.

Tom, a citizen of Saint Kitts and Nevis who lived in

Antigua, arrived in the United States voluntarily from Barbados

on Thursday to face the charges, prosecutors said.

He was released on a $500 000 bond following a court

hearing. James Henderson, his lawyer, said in court he expected

a plea deal soon.

"There's going to be a resolution in this case quickly,"

Henderson said.

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Tom, 37, was one of 11 people indicted on April 15, 2011, a

day dubbed "Black Friday" by the industry, in connection with a

U.S. crackdown that targeted online poker companies Full Tilt

Poker, Absolute Poker and PokerStars.

The three companies had become the largest online poker

outfits doing business in the United States after Congress

banned real-money gambling on internet card games in 2006.

Prosecutors also accused the companies of money laundering.

According to prosecutors, the companies tricked banks into

processing billions of dollars of illegal internet gambling

proceeds through shell companies that appeared legitimate.

Before its shutdown in 2011 in connection with the case,

Absolute Poker was the number 3 internet poker operator doing

business in the United States and had taken in about $500

million from U.S. residents, prosecutors said.

Twelve people overall were charged in the case, including

Tom's stepbrother, Brent Beckley, who oversaw payment processing

at Absolute Poker. He was sentenced in 2012 to 14 months in

prison after pleading guilty.

REUTERS

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