Absolute Poker co-founder pleads guilty

Absolute Poker co-founder pleads guilty

Wednesday, 21 December 2011

Absolute Poker co-founder Brent Beckley has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges at a hearing at Manhattan District Court. The 31-year-old admitted knowing that allowing banks to process the proceeds of online poker was illegal. Beckley also admitted a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud.

"I knew that it was illegal to deceive the banks," Beckley told Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis. According to the Associated Press, Absolute Poker's Director of Payments admitted his guilt as part of a plea bargain deal which could see him face between 12 and 18-months in prison rather than the maximum term of 30-years that can be applied to bank fraud charges.


Prosecutors have accused Absolute Poker (as well as Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars) of tricking U.S. banks into processing billions of dollars of online poker transactions by disguising the money as payments to non-existent online merchants.


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Tags: Absolute Poker, Black Friday, Brent Beckley