Bodog, one of the most popular online gaming and poker website, is in trouble with the United States government.  The government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts that were linked to the company as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into the ‘illegal-under-US-law’ Internet gaming operation.  Players who have been able to play on Bodog and other online gaming sites that accept American players are now left wondering if they will get their winnings back or it they are gone for good.

The accounts were seized from financial institutions such as Wachovia, Bank of America, SunTrust Banks, and Regions Financial.  There is talk that criminal action may even be taken against Calvin Ayre himself and rumours have been flying around in Canada that he is secretly under indictment in the United States already.  Ayre has been called a ‘playboy’ and he recently sold the multibillion dollar Bodog to the Morris Mohawk Group.  Attempts to reach Ayre at his home in Antigua and Barbuda have been unsuccessful.  Prior to the sale of Bodog, the company was handling somewhere in the range of $7.3 billion yearly in poker, casino, and sports betting wagers.

Other online companies, such as Kneeler and Canada’s ESI Entertainment Systems, have entered into agreements with prosecutors regarding payments made to American players, a sum close to $2 billion dollars.  Other online gaming websites are also under scrutiny and have had criminal cases opened against them.  In some of the court papers that have been filed, there has been evidence of an ‘elaborate international structure’ that had been put together to facilitate Bodog’s money collection and cheque writing for its players.  Wachovia Bank issued a statement stating that as far as they knew they were complying with the rules of the UIGEA and that payments were being made to a third-party credit card servicer and not to players themselves.

The probe into Bodog’s websites was open in 2006 with the investigation having started in 2003.  The government was looking into public and bank records, getting help from unnamed cooperating witnesses and informants, and making bets on football and collecting winnings on an undercover basis to see how things were being processed.  There are over a few dozen businesses associated with Bodog that are being looked at.

There is proof that the undercover sting has rattled a few cages as some of the cheques issued to undercover gamblers have bounced, indicating that some of the Bodog money was moved in an effort to prevent seizure.  Other cheques that were issued by Bodog were issued by a different bank headquartered in Nevada.  $9.9 million was seized from the bank in July.

If the United States plans on keeping the seized money permanently, they will be required to file a civil lawsuit and anyone wishing to claim their money will be required to challenge it.