NETeller used to be one of the easiest and most useful ways to fund you online poker account, with thousands of players around the globe using it everyday. The Isle of Man based company was traded on the stock exchange, and handled billions of dollars every year from its customers. It is still possible to be able to fund your poker account with the same ease as we have come to expect over the years, but this only applies if you are living outside the US.
In January 2007, the two co-founders of NETeller Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre were arrested, and so all poker rooms stopped accepting NETeller as a payment method. The whole situation can seem a little confusing, because at the time of the arrest Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre did not have any connections with NETeller, but poker rooms did not want to be connected with anything that could possibly get them into trouble. The charges that were brought against the co-founders was conspiracy relating to handling transactions between US residents and offshore gambling companies. They have since pleaded guilty to these charges in July 2007.
During this process, an estimated $55 million was seized from US NETeller accounts, which means that many US poker playing citizens are now out of pocket. In addition, Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre were ordered to pay a fine of $100 million for their actions. The main problem concerning poker players however is the fact that bankrolls have been seized, and it is all out of our hands when it comes to trying to retrieve it.
The main plan of action however from NETeller’s point of view is to wait until the court disputes have settled, so that a 180 day window can opened for NETeller users to log onto their account and retrieve their money. However, it is hard to be predicted when this will happen, as the courst dates continue to be postponed and pushed back to later dates.
In the meantime, it is stil possible to fund your online poker account with alternative eWallets such as MoneyBookers and ePassporte. One of the player’s favourite is ePassporte, which works in a similar way to NETeller, and you should have no problems navigating your way around it if you have used an online wallet before. So in the meantime, it looks like US players are going to have to sit back, play some poker using an alternative online wallet, and keep our fingers crossed and wait for the day for the NETeller disputes to be settled.
