German Arrested In Florida For Laundering Online Poker Funds

The FBI nabbed another person this week that was associated with online gambling. Michael Olaf Schuett, a German national, was arrested and charged not with online gambling crimes, but money laundering.

After investigating tips from Federal Express, the FBI found that Schuett had been part of an operation that was paying millions of dollars to winning online poker players, many of which were US citizens. The FBI believes that Schuett had been involved for over three years.

In that time, Schuett used bank accounts that were set up in various business names to pay US players their winnings. Federal express finally raised a red flag when the accused continually sent over fifty packages a day to addresses around the US.

Financial institutions around the country also became suspicious of large checks that were being cashed from Schuett's main company, MCM Capital Management. After the investigation and the arrest, the FBI has asked that all of the funds in several different accounts be frozen. The accounts are with banks such as SunTrust and Bank of America.

The flight risk for Schuett was too large for a judge to grant him bond. He is being held until the investigation is complete. Schuett has a visa to the US that is set to expire in April, and that alone caused concern that he may flee the country if released.

The US has been successful in the past at nabbing members of online gambling operations for money laundering and other offenses not related to the gambling itself. The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act was put in place in 2006 to stop Internet gambling, but even that law does not make the activity of online gambling illegal.

Due to the vague wording involved in the UIGEA, and the prevailing thought among lawmakers that the US needs a regulated Internet gambling industry, Representative Barney Frank has introduced legislation that would overturn the UIGEA.

Unlike last year, when Frank's efforts were thwarted by legislators, many more lawmakers are on his side of the issue. Already, he has accumulated sixty-five co-sponsors for his proposed bill.

March 3, 2010
Posted By Tom Jones
Staff Editor, CasinoGamblingWeb.com
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