Second Neteller Co-Founder Pleads Guilty
Neteller co-founder, John Lefebvre, 55, has plead guilty Tuesday to a charge of conspiracy to conduct illegal Internet gambling.
The plea was made before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel during a hearing in Manhattan, just days after co-founder Stephen Lawrence also pleaded guilty in the case. Lefebvre faces up to five years in jail when he is sentenced on Nov. 1.
Read the back story HERE from the Washington Post
During the hearing, Lefebvre admitted promoting Internet gambling. Its legality was ambiguous in the United States for many years but was effectively banned last October when President George W. Bush signed legislation outlawing gaming financial transactions.
“I eventually came to see that promoting payment services to online gambling businesses serving customers in the United States was wrong,” Lefebvre said.
His statement was almost identical to that which was issued by Lawrence.
Lefebvre was widely believed to be preparing a plea of guilty following in the footsteps of Lawrence. Neteller has targeted this coming Friday as a day to begin the process of returning funds to US players tied up since an investigation into the company began in January.
That is when Lefebvre and Lawrence were arrested, leading NETeller to quit the United States, abandoning two-thirds of its business.
A crackdown on Internet gambling by U.S. authorities began last July with the arrest of BETonSPORTS’s then-chief executive, David Carruthers, during a layover at a Texas airport.
