U.S. authorities detained two former directors and founding shareholders of NETeller Plc. Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre were detained on Monday while travelling separately in the United States, NETeller said, becoming the latest victims of the U.S. crackdown on Internet gaming.
The two former directors and founding shareholders of Neteller, a British online money transfer company, have been charged in the United States with laundering billions of dollars in illegal gambling proceeds.
Canadians Stephen Lawrence, 46, and John Lefebvre, 55, were arrested on Monday, in the U.S. Virgin Islands and in Malibu, CA, respectively, and were charged in Manhattan federal court with conspiring to transfer funds with the intent to promote illegal gambling. U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia said that both men face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Neither Lawrence nor Lefebvre had any current connection to the company other than as shareholders according to statements released by NETeller.
Shares in the Isle of Man-based company, which has grown fast with the rapid rise in online gambling, closed at 176 pence on Monday, valuing it at around 211 million pounds ($415.4 million). The shares have fallen 60 percent since early September, hit
by the arrests in the United States of executives from British companies involved in online sports betting and the passage in October of a U.S. law barring banks from transactions involving Internet gambling.
NETeller indicated that it had requested the suspension of trading in its shares.
Source: Reuters
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