BizLawCentral: US prosecutes man for lying on bank account opening form

The case alleges that Douglas Rennick, a resident of Canada, opened bank accounts in the USA in the name of several companies.

When he did so he said that the companies would be involved in cheque cashing and other payment processing services. What he did not say, say prosecutors, was that the companies paid out winnings due to US residents as a result of internet gambling where the gaming companies were outside the USA.

The USA is fighting a long-term battle over internet gambling: some years ago, payment processors VISA and Mastercard withdrew from the processing of any payments connected with internet gambling. However, the devious have found ways around that, often through the use of internet auction sites where the transfer of sums from person A to person B are commonplace.

The USA has prosecuted persons who provide the services but this is, so far as wmlro.com's records show the first time a payment processor has been prosecuted. Identical risks apply in other countries with strict controls on gambling, for example Hong Kong.

For Rennick, if found guilty (and he has not yet entered a plea) he faces jail terms on charges of money laundering and bank fraud plus subsidiary charges. But the real sting is that prosecutors are planning to try to recover more than USD500 million dollars.They say that's the total amount that passed through his hands.

How they plan to get that past the Santos decision has yet to be made known.