Party/DOJ rumor

[2Tone]

Interesting. From what I understand, Party execs pay off the feds not to bust them for activities prior to the UIGEA.



Party-DoJ talks could pave way for settlement

News of the discussions between PartyGaming and the US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has fuelled rumours that the operator is negotiating a deal with the US authorities that would enable it to draw a line under the ongoing legal uncertainty concerning it stateside.

The dialogue between Party and the Department of Justice (DoJ) will aim to try and resolve the legal issues surrounding its activities in the US prior to the internet gambling ban in October last year. The upshot of any deal could see Party agree a financial settlement with the DoJ that would take away the threat of current or past Party executives being arrested should they travel to the US in the future. The talks are understood to have come about because the DoJ recently sent Party a formal request for information as part of its continuing investigations into the sector.

Numis Securities issued a note on the news of the discussions and reiterated Party’s line that it was “too early to assess the likelihood of any particular outcome of these discussions”, but added that there now appeared to be “a willingness on behalf of the US Attorney’s office to settle and draw a line under the uncertainty caused by recent DoJ actions towards online gaming companies that participated in the US prior to the enactment of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act”.

Press reports also suggested that any financial settlement could resemble that which Sportingbet agreed with the state of Louisiana when warrants for the arrest of then chairman Peter Dicks were dropped after payment of US$400,000 was made by the company.