Problems at Bodog??

[beermantm]

Seems like they want to take this site down. I hear there is some problems....... any news?

[wsox08]

Legal
Feds Hound Bodog
Janet Novack and William P. Barrett 07.30.08, 6:35 PM ET

Calvin Ayre







The U.S. government recently seized $24 million from bank accounts linked to Bodog, the giant, illegal-under-U.S.-law Internet gaming operation founded by Canadian tycoon Calvin Ayre.

Federal filings make very clear that a serious criminal investigation of the Bodog enterprise is ongoing. At a minimum, word of the seizures is likely to rattle the confidence of U.S.-based online gamblers that they will receive their winnings, not only from Bodog but from the industry's other remaining participants.

Detailed in court filings in a Baltimore federal court, the Bodog-related seizures from such well-known institutions as Wachovia (nyse: WB - news - people ), Bank of America (nyse: BAC - news - people ), SunTrust Banks (nyse: STI - news - people ) and Regions Bank, a unit of Regions Financial (nyse: RF - news - people ), increase the possibility of criminal action against Ayre himself. There already has been published speculation in his native Canada that he is under secret indictment somewhere in the U.S.

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.

IRS affidavit from forfeiture lawsuit in Baltimore. (pdf download- 3.4 MB)

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.

In overall actions against the industry, federal prosecutors in New York have charged executives of Neteller with illegally processing online gaming transactions. This summer, Canada's ESI Entertainment Systems, an Internet payment business, entered into a "deferred prosecution agreement" with the same prosecutors. The company admitted to criminal wrongdoing and agreed to disgorge $9.1 million in criminal proceeds for its role in processing $2 billion in Internet gambling payments for hundreds of thousands of U.S. customers. Criminal cases have been started against various online gambling shops.

Ayre has been trying to put legal distance between himself and the operation he founded in the 1990s. For years its business was run through Internet servers belonging to Mohawk Internet Technologies, located on the Kahnawake Reserve Indian reservation in Quebec, Canada. In September 2007 Bodog said its North American operations would be licensed to Morris Mohawk Group, also located on the reservation and run by tribal chief Alwyn Morris.

Three months ago, Ayre, now 47, said he had transferred ownership of Bodog itself to Morris Mohawk Group. "It's true; I'm packing it in," Ayre wrote on a Web site.

Court filings in Maryland say that in January and February a total of $14.2 million was seized from accounts in the name of JBL Services and Transaction Solutions at Wachovia, Regions Bank, Bank of America and Sun Trust Bank. In July, filings say, another $9.9 million was found in eight accounts at Nevada State Bank, a unit of Zion Bancorporation (nasdaq: ZION - news - people ), in the name of Zaftig Instantly Processed Payments, doing business as ZipPayments.com. The companies are described as helping to facilitate parts of the Bodog operation.

The court papers detail an elaborate international structure put together to allow Bodog to collect money and write checks to winning gamblers in the U.S. One affidavit by Randall S. Carrow, a special agent with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division, said that $248 million involving entities linked to Bodog was processed through Wachovia Bank, from which $11 million of the $24 million was seized.

In a statement to Forbes, Wachovia said the bank cooperated with law enforcement, doesn't knowingly allow Internet gaming operations to open accounts, and the funds ending up at the bank were in accounts of a third-party credit card servicer. The statement also hinted that various accounts might have been kept open at the request of investigators to aid their efforts.

According to Carrow's detailed sworn statements, the IRS's Criminal Investigation Division started looking at Bodog in 2003 and opened a formal probe in 2006. The extensive sleuthing has involved close examination of public and bank records, the enlisting of unnamed cooperating witnesses and informants, and undercover efforts to make bets on football and collect winnings.

Ayre, says Carrow's statement, is president of Middleton Financial, a Nevada corporation described as a key cog in the U.S. Bodog machinery, as well as Stratham Finance, said to be based in Malta. Other entities linked to Ayre in the court filings are Gateway Financial Services, EBanx Ltd., Gregor Financial Ltd. and Calvtek Industries. The filings list dozens of businesses involved in processing Bodog transactions.

The ongoing federal pressure to disrupt Bodog's financial transactions may be bearing fruit. Carrow's affidavits say several checks issued from Bodog to its undercover gambler bounced.

A break in the inquiry came in May, one of Carrow's affidavits says, when an undercover operative for "another state's gambling commission" received a check that didn't bounce from an account at Nevada State Bank, which is headquartered in Las Vegas. That led to the $9.9 million seizure this month. The bank had no immediate comment.

Carrow's affidavits were filed in connection with the U.S.'s successful efforts to get a federal judge to authorize the seizures. But to keep the money permanently, federal prosecutors must file a civil lawsuit and allow a challenge by anyone with a claimed interest. No one fought the $14.2 million seizure, and it was ordered forfeited to the feds. The lawsuit over the $9.9 million--its official name is United States of America v. $9,869,283.05--was just filed.

Even before the advent of Bodog, Ayre carried considerable baggage. Close family members were convicted of drug trafficking. (Ayer himself was never charged.) In 1996 Ayre was banned for 20 years from the British Columbia securities industry for stock market offenses. By that time, he was already moving into online gaming.

"One of the things that drives me is the excitement that I could fail," he told Forbes in 2006. "What better buzz can you get?"

[homedawg]

no problem here!

[The Mailman]

After that forbes article came out, Bodog emailed out and let everybody know that it was overblown and that other companies had funds with the processor that got taken down as well.

Business as usual there.

[homedawg]

processor outta germany, sendin' funds from canada. Nice work!

[No1mikefan]

I am having the worst time even getting to the site. 9 times out of 10 it comes up unable to display page? This is happening to me at home and work. Is anyone else experiencing this? Ive been able to get to it through banners on other sites but WTF? Football is here and this is just terrible timing! Im certainly no member of the geek squad so Im wondering if some kind of security settings on my computer could have gotten messed up? I have no idea and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance guys

[LLXC]

Been hearing that money just takes longer to arrive. For a while they did have issues with their payout company, and checks were bouncing but they would credit you for the bounced check and issue you another one.

No1mikefan, their www . bodoglife . com site seems to work fine for me?

[homedawg]

Originally Posted by No1mikefan

I am having the worst time even getting to the site. 9 times out of 10 it comes up unable to display page? This is happening to me at home and work. Is anyone else experiencing this? Ive been able to get to it through banners on other sites but WTF? Football is here and this is just terrible timing! Im certainly no member of the geek squad so Im wondering if some kind of security settings on my computer could have gotten messed up? I have no idea and any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance guys

The site works for me, although more of a delay, within the last couple months. That could be from IP Tracker software. My online banks and many other sites I use, that have my personal info, use it and have the same delay.

[No1mikefan]

I think I got it. I clicked on more information and it told me to go to tools, internet options etc...I reset my advanced security settings on my PC and I can get to it now.

Thanks for the help guys!

I hope that wasnt a sign for the upcoming football season........Maybe I should have left things the way they were when i couldnt get to the site, haha! No, that cant be it, LOL!

GOOD LUCK THIS YEAR GUYS!!!!!! Lets roll em up and really get that toys for tots jumping off this year!

I spoke too soon, Same thing again! It worked for about 10 minutes and now cant get to it. This is the shitty message I get from my computer but I already tried everything. Looks like I wont be using my bodog account?

This problem can be caused by a variety of issues, including:

Internet connectivity has been lost.
The website is temporarily unavailable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) is not reachable.
The Domain Name Server (DNS) does not have a listing for the website's domain.
If this is an HTTPS (secure) address, click Tools, click Internet Options, click Advanced, and check to be sure the SSL and TLS protocols are enabled under the security section.

[homedawg]

Are you runnin' with an IP scrambler?

[No1mikefan]

Homedawg-
I hate to show my tec ignorance, but im not sure what that is? I appreciate the hell out of you trying to help!

[homedawg]

type this in your browser without spaces---> http:// 66.212.249.170/


or click here-->Online Poker, Casino, Sports Betting and Horse Racing at Bodog

[No1mikefan]

Thanks homedawg for trying. Typing the info into my browser did not work. Same thing, but clicking on your link took me right to it. Ive been trying it and re-trying it all day before I responded to make sure things were all good.
I think it now is all set. What does that tell you about the fact that I cannot go to bodog on my own, but can get to it through your link? Either way, I owe you one, and once again the fourm takes care of business for me!

[homedawg]

I do not know anything about your setup?

Are you on a network?

What browser are you using?

SSL needs to be set correctly, encryption, cookies enabled, popup blocker, hosts, firewall, etc....

The internet is getting more and more complex, to keep everyone safe!

Everytime you install new antivirus software, your settings change!

BTW, if you are using windows XP, service pack 3 is out!

[No1mikefan]

I have windows vista and use internet explorer with Norton anti virus. I have cable high speed connection through Charter. Im just keeping my fingers crossed that it keeps working. I know, the first time it happend, I reset my security settings, SSL to original settings and it seemed to work. I wish I knew more about this stuff to really explain it to you. For as minimul information as I was able to give you, you seemed to figure it out. Much more than I would have ever been able to do?
Thanks again!