by James
13. April 2010 05:40
Schuett at work
Micheal Olaf Schuett, A German citizen, has been caught by the FBI for laundering over $70 million in online poker funding. The FBI claims that Schuett has been active money laundering for around a couple of years and has helped over 23,000 poker players – A majority of them being US citizens who adore poker.
The 29year old German worked as a middleman between US poker players and poker sites offshore. He would receive payment from these sites and then distribute these checks to US players when they withdrew their winnings. Quite a smart operation if I say so..
The FBI was tipped off that Schuett was sending over 50 parcels to different US cities and states every day and once these parcels were opened, multiple checks were found inside. Schuett was tattletale’d on by Federal Express. ““Federal Express employees became suspicious of Schuett’s activity when Schuett began mailing over 150 parcels per week.” The mail service employees opened several of the parcels and found that each parcel contained a check.
The FBI reported that they locked over $2 million USD in cash in several leading banks. The German is being accused of opening of up to 40 accounts at banks such as Bank America, for use in his money laundering scheme. Judges has requested that the banks holding his funs keep the accounts locked pending future investigation.
Schuett is now being held at the Lee County jail without bond. Agents are executing search warrants to seize computers and several assets that were purchased with the funds earned by his alleged illegal online gambling operations.
Its come down to this final point. If online poker was regulated and legalized, the millions of poker players currently playing and living in the United States would not need to go through the services supplied by Schuett to get their money that they rightfully earned.