Two founders of NETeller PLC, a U.K. payment processor for gambling Web sites, were freed last week on $5 million bond each after being arrested for allegedly transferring billions of dollars from U.S. citizens to foreign gambling companies.
Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre, former directors of the Isle of Man company, were arrested Jan. 15 on charges of conspiring to transfer funds to promote offshore gambling. Prosecutors said they simultaneously arrested Mr. Lawrence in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Mr. Lefebvre in Malibu, Calif., out of fear that one would tip off the other and trigger a flight.
The arrests are part of a U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling. Last year prosecutors arrested several people associated with the London online bookmakers Betonsports PLC and Sportingbet PLC for violating Internet-gambling laws.
NETeller processed more than $7.3 billion in 2005, mostly from North American gambling transactions, prosecutors said. Its shares, which have been suspended from trading, have fallen 80% in the past year and closed Jan. 17 at $3.40.
