Poker supergrass Daniel Tzvetkoff’s bet pays off
News on 5 Jun 2014
News on 5 Jun 2014
Online poker’s most infamous informer, and the man widely credited with the US shuttering of major online poker sites on Black Friday, Daniel Tzvetkoff (31), has avoided further jail time due to his collaboration with the US authorities.
The Australian former Intabill e-cash processor, who was arrested in 2010 during a trip to Las Vegas (see previous reports) and subsequently handed over tens of thousands of records to the authorities, enabling them to be bring about Black Friday in April 2011, has had to forfeit $13 million for his pre-arrest activities, but will not have to serve further jail-time, reports the Reuters news agency.
Reuters reports Tzvetkoff’s attorney told the news agency that Tzvetkoff is now working for a “respectable organisation,” and is “…a capable, highly skilled, and intelligent young man [who] looks forward to a productive, happy, and quiet life with his family.”
The online poker whistleblower was facing a 75-year stint in jail, but reportedly gave almost 100,000 documents to the US government in its prosecution against the three largest US-facing online poker rooms at the time, Pokerstars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
All three abandoned the US market on Black Friday when 11 executives and associated payment processors were indicted on charges that included money laundering, bank fraud, and violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Reuters reports that Tzvetkoff had already served more than four months in prison in New York and originally pleaded guilty to one conspiracy count and one count of operating an illegal gambling business.
His attorney argued ahead of sentencing, “For a first-time offender who has never before experienced prison, four-plus months inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn constitutes a harsh and significant punishment. The reality is that even one day in those type of conditions can be exceedingly harsh punishment for a first-time offender like Mr Tzvetkoff.”
