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Breaking News - Internet Poker Leaders Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and UB Poker Shut Down by Feds

If you're a poker player from the US or from any place for that matter, your poker playing times maybe over. The founders of the three largest poker web sites on the internet were indicted today. A move which could send a serious shockwave thru the industry at the minimum and maybe signal the end of some major poker brands.

Eleven execs at Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker and several other companies were hit with charges of bank fraud and money laundering. Two of the defendants were taken into custody this morning in Nevada and Utah. Federal agents are still on the lookout for the others.

The executives listed in the filing are Isai Scheinberg, Raymond Bitar, Scott Tom, Brent Beckley, Nelson Burtnick, Paul Tate, Ryan Lang, Bradley Franzen, Ira Ruben, Chad Elie, and John Campos. Restraining orders were granted against more than 75 bank accounts allegedly used by the defendants and their payment processing companies.

Prosecutors want the web sites closed down and the execs sent to prison. They would also like to recoup approximately $3 billion from the corporations involved. This afternoon, Full Tilt Poker’s website displayed a message that read, “this domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant.” Soon after Poker Stars, Absolute Poker, and UB Poker web sites displayed the identical message. All four domains were taken by the Department of Justice.

In 2006, Congress passed legislation to stop gambling online. Lots of the big players managed to learn how to circumvent the law, but it looks like in doing so they may have broken a few laws along the way.

“These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to make sure the continuing flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” says Preet Bharara, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, where today’s indictment was unsealed.

“Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to bypass the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in significant money laundering and bank fraud.”

This certainly is the major story of online poker players and the full results on US poker sites surely have not been felt.

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