Canadian Pleads Guilty to Online Gambling Fraud
This week in federal court in Manhattan, New York, 35-year-old Canadian
Douglas Rennick pleaded guilty to one count of transmission of wagering
information in relation to illegally transferring money from offshore online
gambling websites to U.S. players.
A native of British Columbia, Rennick told the court. 'I had a business that
transferred money from offshore gambling sites to American players.' Rennick ran
a company that's sole purpose was to process illegal payments to U.S. residents
from online gambling firms.
The illegal payments allegedly took place between 2007 and 2009 and involved
online casinos and online poker rooms. Many U.S. online gambling fans started
flouting the law after Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement
Act (UIGEA) in 2006.
UIGEA was designed to make it illegal for U.S. banks, credit card companies and
other financial institutions to process online gambling-related payments. As a
result, many U.S. online gamblers sought and used 'alternative' payment methods,
despite being illegal.
Rennick also agreed to forfeit over $17 million as part of the agreement. U.S. prosecutors are also seeking the forfeiture of $565.9 million related to the case. They contend Rennick and his co-conspirators processed over $350 million in illegal transfers to the U.S.
