Browse > Home / Breaking Poker News, Online Poker News / Feds Seize Bodog Bank Accounts

Feds Seize Bodog Bank Accounts

July 30, 2008

The United States government seized over 24 million dollars in Bank accounts linked directly to Bodog today. Bodog now know as bodoglife.com, is one of the biggest online gaming corporations owned by Canadian Billionaire Calvin Arye. According to public documents released there is an intense ongoing investigation into Bodog and owner Calvin Arye.

This news has sent shock waves through out the online gaming industry, which still remains in a legal grey area in the US. The Poker Forums have buzzed all day with concerns about player account safety and the threat of even more limited deposit options. The following comment is from a recent article form Forbes Magazine:

The U.S. attorney’s office in Baltimore, which launched the two lawsuits to take the $24 million, did not respond to a request for comment.

The flamboyant Ayre–media reports often call him a “playboy”–is now believed to be in Antigua and Barbuda, a country in the eastern Caribbean. He has denied being on the lam. A request on Wednesday for comment from Ayre, sent through the Web site of his Antigua-based Calvin Ayre Foundation, was not immediately returned. Nor were call and e-mail messages sent to public relations contacts listed on Bodog’s Web site.

In early 2006 Ayre rocketed to international prominence–and the cover of Forbes magazine’ annual issue on the world’s billionaires–for his stewardship from Costa Rica of Bodog Entertainment Group and his open flouting of authorities in the U.S., his major market. The story headline: “Catch Me If You Can.” The operation was said at the time to be handling $7.3 billion yearly in poker, casino and sports event wagers.

But since then, Ayre has been the subject of law-enforcement raids abroad and growing regulatory scrutiny, especially in the U.S. In late 2006 President Bush signed a law strengthening the prohibition on online gambling. Ayre fell off the Forbes worldwide billionaires list after just one year, amid a decline in his industry’s fortunes.

Editor’s note:

We have contacted Bodog and hope to hear an official response soon, as soon as we have an official response we will keep everyone updated.

Written by admin · Filed Under Breaking Poker News, Online Poker News 

Comments

Got something to say?

You must be logged in to post a comment.