Daniel Tzvetkoff hurts US Online Poker

Formerly known as the "boy genius," IntaBill founder Daniel Tzvetkoff may be the key piece in what toppled the US online poker industry. Last year, Tzvetkoff was arrested by US authorities for money laundering, and was facing 75 years in prison; he couldn't even get bail because the US thought he was too big of a risk to flee the country. However, Tzvetkoff was able to save his own skin by pointing the finger at major online poker sites like Full Tilt Poker and Pokerstars. Reporter Paul Toohey ran a big story on this whole mess in the Courier-Times newspaper entitled "Web King behind FBI Raids." As the paper reported: The Courier-Mail reported today that the deal came after Tzvetkoff - a Brisbane boy wonder, who started a company with school mates at 13 - became embroiled in a massive, $543 million stew of money laundering, bank fraud and conspiracy that could bring down the world of online gambling. Federal prosecutors in New York yesterday charged the founders of the three largest internet poker companies in the US with bank fraud, money laundering and other gambling offenses and are seeking penalties upward of $3 billion. Federal authorities also froze approximately 76 bank accounts in 14 countries that contain proceeds from the alleged offenses. They also shut down five internet domain names used by the three companies to host their games. A total of 11 defendants, including the founders of Poker Stars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker, were named in the indictment unsealed Friday. The Courier-Mail reported today that two of those companies Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars, had been seeking $100m they believed Tzvetkoff had taken from them. Once hailed as a genius who was on the fast track to becoming an internet entrepreneur guru, Tzvetkoff will now be known as the guy who ripped off both Full Tilt and Pokerstars, then brought them and the rest of the US online poker industry to its knees by ratting poker sites out. Sure the US had been building a case against online poker rooms for a while, but Tzvetkoff sped things up with his willingness to narc on anybody and anything in an effort to save himself. If you'd like to read the rest of Toohey's article, here it is .