Poker Processor Pleads Guilty in NYDouglas Rennick Pleads Guilty to Single Count of Processing Offshore Bets |
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“I had a business that transferred money from offshore gaming sites to American players within the Southern District of New York,” said Douglas Rennick in federal court yesterday as he pleaded guilty to a single count of processing offshore bets.
Rennick, a Canadian who was allegedly behind several online poker payment processing companies, will be sentenced on Sept. 15. His lawyer says his plea deal means that Rennick will likely face between six to 12 months in jail, in addition to the forfeiture of $17.1 million.
That’s a far cry from what he could’ve faced had he not made a guilty plea and was found guilty of all the charges he faced in federal court.
Besides just being charged with processing offshore bets, Rennick was indicted in August for bank fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, and gambling conspiracy. If convicted of all the charges, he could’ve faced up to 55 years in prison.
Rennick was alleged to have been operating various shell companies that were transferring money to and from online gambling companies — including My ATM Online, Alenis Limited, KJB Financial Corporation, Account Services Corporation and Check Payment Financial Co, some names that online poker players might have recognized from their checks.
Several poker players and people in the industry decried the indictment at the time as the federal government playing hard ball. The gambling charge he faced was actually the least heavy-handed of the three. Most of the dire consequences he could’ve faced stemmed from the bank fraud and money laundering charges, which he did not admit to in his plea deal.
“Rennick did not disclose to Washington Mutual Bank that KJB Financial Corporation would process payments from internet gambling companies,” the indictment read. “Instead, Rennick falsely and misleadingly represented…that his company would issue checks ‘for the following reasons’…”
The reasons Rennick allegedly gave included affiliate checks, rebates, refunds, sponsorship checks, and minor payroll.
The Southern District of New York has a history of pursuing online poker-related cases. The district seized over $34 million in online poker funds in June 2009 that were due to be sent out to players on various poker sites, including PokerStars, Full Tilt, UB, and Absolute Poker.
Last month, a man named Daniel Tzvetkoff was arrested in Las Vegas for allegedly laundering money as a poker payment processor, as well. The Southern District of New York is also heading up that investigation.
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