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US Government Serve Warrant to eWalletXpress

For poker players using eWalletXpress this news will not be welcoming. From November 12th customers were unable to use eWalletXpress, with the company blaming “Technical issues” for the problems. Earlier this week however, it emerged that the payment processing company had been served a warrant by the US Government.

Some reports claim that seizures have already begun and it has already been stated that US poker players will not be able to use the service until further notice. Retailers received emails the following week saying “We regret to inform you that we are no longer able to continue service at this time due to a federal warrant issued to seize our funds”. The company then took the step of blocking US customers from creating an account, leaving only Canadian players with an option to sign-up.

Further poker news reports are saying that eWalletXpress will refund money back to checking accounts once these “technical issues” are cleared up and officials have been trying to ease the worries of player’s by claiming that any money in their account is safe. It has been suggested that people with an account can request to have their funds returned through emailing payouts@ewalletxpress.com.

The ramifications of these recent developments do not bode well for the company and they may have to follow in the footsteps of Neteller by leaving the US market to Avoid prosecution.

Some of the Online Poker sites which will be affected by this recent turn of events are DoylesRoom, Cake Poker, Carbon Poker and Bodog. The later of those mentioned will most likely be affected most as Bodog used eWalletXpress as its main method for deposit. Players can now deposit to their Bodog accounts using bank transfers, credit cards, MyPayLinQ and Digital-Pin. Safeguards being used by reputable sites like Bodog have been updated accordingly.

The last time a situation like this occurred was in 2007 when Neteller attracted the US Government’s attention. $55 million dollars were seized and at this time Neteller was the main method of funding Online Poker accounts. Both Canadian founders were subsequently arrested and charged with racketeering and money laundering. Poker players were then denied from withdrawing funds back to their bank accounts.

The highest profile player to have funds in their Neteller account at the time was Isaac Haxton, who had over $800,000 in his account. Haxton had finished in second place at the 2007 Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas. His winnings were transferred to his Online Poker account where he planned to use Neteller to move the money to his bank account but, upon attempting the withdrawal, the Department of Justice stepped in after arresting the Neteller founders. After a year of negotiations the founders agreed to pay a fine and player funds were finally released, much to Haxton’s relief.