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Cracking Down Money Laundering Bill On Internet Gambling14 October 2001The House Financial Services Committee accepted a bill to combat international money laundering that contains provisions that crack down on Internet gambling. The committee passed the bill 62-1, with Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, supplying the one "no" vote. Rep. Michael Castle''s, R-Del., amendment to strip the anti-Internet gambling provisions from the bill failed in a 25-37 vote. The bill, H.R. 3004 - the "Financial Anti-Terrorism Act of 2001," contains a section that resurrects language against Internet gambling that House Financial Services Committee Chairman James Leach, R-Iowa, had previously introduced. Internet gambling has established itself as a safe place for money laundering and specifically forbids gambling businesses from "accepting bank instruments in connection with unlawful Internet gambling." states the money-laundering bill. The devices contain credit cards, checks and electronic fund transfers. The FBI has two cases open in the meanwhile involving Internet gambling being used for money laundering activities, and several in anticipation of cases link Internet gambling to organized crime. The bill includes a carve-out that allows fantasy sports associations and "educational" games to continue operating, as well as bona fide securities transactions. The language also includes civil penalties as well as criminal penalties of both fines and up to five years in prison. It allows both federal and state suits to be lodged against Internet gambling operations. The Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) said it disapproves of the language''s inclusion in the legislation. "Piling on anti-Internet gaming and other language merely clouds the critical issues involved and raises the possibility of unnecessary and counter-productive delays," said ITAA President Harris Miller. Other forms of Internet gambling legislation have come to the House and Senate floors before. While legislation sponsored by Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., passed in the Senate, it was never cleared in the House. Meanwhile, a House bill outlawing certain forms of Internet gambling that was introduced by Rep. Robert Goodlatte, R-Va., was rejected on the House floor. |