Many online casino and gambling affiliates as well as sports betting regulars are familiar with Bodog.
In another blow to the online gaming industry, A federal grand jury indictment was unsealed in Baltimore charging the founder and operators of the popular online betting site Bodog.com with money laundering, prosecutors announced.
The indictment charges former Canadian billionaire Calvin Ayre as well as James Philip, David Ferguson, and Derrick Maloney with conducting an illegal sports gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering, according to a press release.
Federal authorities have seized Bodog’s website domain name, officials said. Last year, the site stopped offering online access to United States residents, though it transitioned customers to a new site, Bovada.lv, according to reports. That site was still operational Tuesday.
Ayre released a statement Tuesday through his website denouncing the charges as a media stunt.
“I see this as abuse of the U.S. criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large U.S. corporations,” Ayre said in an article posted to calvinayre.com. “It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents, is it [sic] also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion.
“We will all look at this and discuss the future with our advisers, but it will not stop my many business interests globally that are unrelated to anything in the U.S.,” he said.
It’s clear that the US government and prosecutors are not taking online gambling in the US lightly. It’s extremely important as an affiliate marketer that you understand the legalities of the programs that you promote. This obviously includes casino affiliate programs and other potentially “fringe” industries where liability can fall square in the lap of an affiliate.
Casinoaffiliateprograms.com presented a very insightful webinar dealing with affiliate marketing in the online gambling space. Highly recommended that any affiliate promoting online casino programs take a look at this video webinar…
