Neteller Co-Founder Pleads Guilty in Online Gambling Case

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB118315068427253464.html>

The Wall Street Journal


June 29, 2007 5:29 p.m. EDT

Neteller Co-Founder Pleads
Guilty in Online Gambling Case

Associated Press

June 29, 2007 5:29 p.m.

The co-founder of a company that processed billions of dollars in Internet
gambling transactions for Americans pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of
criminal conspiracy.

Stephen Lawrence, whose company, Neteller PLC, was once one of the primary
ways U.S. citizens placed bets with offshore bookies, acknowledged in a
federal courtroom in Manhattan that the operation was illegal.

"I came to understand that providing payment services to online gambling
Web sites serving customers in the United States was wrong," he told the
judge.

His lawyers said he was cooperating with U.S. investigators, and had also
agreed to be at least partly responsible for the $100 million the
government is seeking from people who were involved in the operation.

Mr. Lawrence and another Neteller director, John David Lefebvre, were
arrested in January as part of a U.S. crackdown on the online gambling
industry.

Both men are Canadian citizens. Their company was based in the Isle of Man
and traded on the London Stock Exchange. Some experts had initially
believed that the company's offshore status might put it beyond the reach
of U.S. law.

Neteller also wasn't directly involved in either placing or taking bets. It
essentially served as a financial middleman.

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
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