Goldwater Bank Forfeits Funds Tied to Online Gambling

Goldwater Bank in Scottsdale, Arizona has agreed to forfeit $734,000 in assets tied to money laundering and illegal online gambling operations, the FBI said on Friday. The one-branch bank was accused of transferring funds for several online gambling sites, including PokerStars, the world’s largest online poker room. At least $13 million was transferred in the first half of 2009 according to federal reports.



Ahmad Khawaja, together with his two firms, Allied Systems and Allied Wallet, had reportedly been actively involved in the transfer of funds to players from sites such as PokerStars and deposited funds into an account at Goldwater. The companies reportedly transferred money from outside of the U.S. through wire transfers from people who understood that the money was being exchanged as part of the gambling operation.



Following a civil forfeiture complaint by the U.S. Government, Goldwater Bank agreed to hand over the funds to resolve claims that the money was traceable to assets involved in money laundering and proceeds of an illegal online gambling business. Under the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), financial institutions aren’t permitted to process transactions associated with illegal online gambling. Goldwater Bank, however, denied any knowledge that the transactions had ties to offshore gambling sites.




“Although Goldwater Bank denies guilty knowledge of its role in facilitating an illegal online gambling business, it was paid to execute transactions that were essential to the operation of this criminal enterprise,” said Janice Fedarcyk, the FBI’s Assistant Director in charge, in a statement. “The forfeiture settlement means the bank won’t profit by providing this service.”



Goldwater was among a handful of Arizona-based banks that received Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funding. The program, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush in October 2008, invested federal money into banks in order to ultimately strengthen the financial sector. Should an investigation reveal that the bank was conscious of the gambling-related transactions, it could be in danger of losing funding in the future.



“Today’s charges and settlement should send a powerful message to TARP recipients that they will be held strictly accountable for any misdeeds while they stand as custodians of taxpayer dollars,” said TARP Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky. “SIGTARP commends the leadership of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York for his continued use of both civil and criminal remedies to protect taxpayer interests.”



In August, Khawaja and his two companies reached a civil settlement with the U.S. Government, agreeing to forfeit $13.3 million that was deposited between January 2009 and May 2009 at Goldwater Bank. The FBI confiscated all $13.3 million at the bank in June 2009 and Khawaja settled to keep himself and his companies out of further legal trouble.



Payment processors like Khawaja’s are being watched even more closely since the UIGEA’s regulations went into effect in June. The law, passed in 2006, aims to stop online gambling by preventing credit card companies and banks from processing funds transfers for unlawful internet gambling. The fight to regulate online poker in the U.S. took a big step in July with the passage of Barney Frank’s HR 2267, the Internet Gambling Regulation, Consumer Protection, and Enforcement Act. However, there’s still a long climb ahead in order to turn the bill into a law, leaving sites like PokerStars alarmed in the interim.



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