A NETELLER press release released Thursday morning said NETELLER was unable to pay U.S. customer withdrawals because U.S. banks refused to do business with one or more of the e-wallet-based automated clearinghouses. The NETeller data also said the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York is further disrupting the withdrawal process by seizing funds worth less than $55 million that were destined or due to be transferred to U.S. NETeller accounts.
NETeller Group said it was working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to develop a mechanism to return money to U.S. customers, but said withdrawals would continue to be held up. “Returning funds to U.S. customers is a top priority for NETeller,” said Ron Martin, Group President and CEO. U.S. prosecutors had no comment Thursday morning and did not confirm or deny details in the NETeller press release.
NETeller officials continue to say that any U.S. money that U.S. officials have not seized is kept in separate trust accounts. The announcement did not release a timeline for withdrawals for U.S. customers. Neteller legal advisers met with U.S. Attorney’s Office officials on Jan. 19, three days after the FBI arrested and charged Neteller co-founders Stephen Lawrence and John Lefebvre with money laundering.
The NETeller Group announced that it has committed to collaborating on the investigation, starting the creation of relevant documents, and discussing the mechanisms for returning money to NETeller customers located in the United States. “As part of these discussions, it is thought that USAO will engage forensic accounting firms at the expense of (NETeller) Group to help with this process and investigate the group’s financial position.” 온라인카지노
The report stated that NETeller officials continue to operate under the assumption that no further charges will be filed, but added: “There is no guarantee that the group will not be charged with criminal action at some point in the future.” According to the release, NETeller’s financial position continues to be strong despite losing a huge stake in the U.S. market.
New account subscriptions, one of the measures of e-wallet resilience, fell from an average of 3,303 new accounts per day in 2006 to an average of 1,400 per day since Jan. 18. Nevertheless, the NETeller Group claims to be financially sound enough to earn an average of more than $200,000 per day in account fees produced by customers rather than U.S. customers.
“These indicators demonstrate the resilience of the group’s continued business. NETELER customers who do not reside in the United States continue to be minimally impacted by this withdrawal from the U.S. market,” the report said. NETELLER GROUP Shares Continue To Stop Trading On AIM In London.