No Black Friday Charges Dismissal for Online Gambling Finance Men

Manhattan Judge refuses to drop the charges against Campos and Elie

John Campos, former Utah banker, and Chad Elie, e-processor, who face charges related to the payment processing of online poker transactions, both saw their motion for dismissal of Black Friday indictments against them refused. Furthermore, all eight of the government’s charges against the duo remain, with three of six original Black Friday defendants already pleading guilty.

Bearing in mind what the judge noted at a pre-trial hearing last December, that: “it would be extraordinarily unlikely if the entire indictment would be dismissed,” the ruling should not come as surprise to Campos and Ellie.

Manhattan judge Lewis Kaplan, wrote in an eight-page memorandum opinion: “Defendants’ argument that poker is not gambling fails, at least at this stage.”

He indicated the defendants' argument as “surprising” and said that Campos and Elie will need to defend themselves at trial against the government’s claims that they violated the Illegal Gambling Business Act.

Campos and Elie are set to go on trial next month, nearly a year after American enforcement officials shut down the US operations of PokerStars, Absolute Poker and Full Tilt Poker, unsealing a criminal indictment of 11 men and a $3 billion lawsuit against the companies, some of their founders and board members.

Kaplan concluded that “It would be inappropriate to dismiss any count 'for lack of proof' at this point in time.”

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