Calvin Ayre Indicted, bodog.com domain seized

Calvin Ayre has been indicted in the state of Maryland, United States and has bodog.com domain seized.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Ayre

The wikipedia entry for Calvin Ayre already has the news updated with comments from Rebecca Liggero via the NYTimes.

Calvin Ayre has already posted on facebook sharing the news himself.

He doesn't seem concerned and maybe it is posturing but they seem confident the indictment against him is baseless.

"On February 28, 2012, Ayre was indicted by the US Attorney in Baltimore, Maryland for activities relating to Bodog.

The indictment focuses on the movement of funds from accounts outside the U.S., in Switzerland, England, Malta, and Canada, and the hiring of media resellers and advertisers to promote Internet gambling.

CalvinAyre.com head reporter and Bodog/Bovada spokeswoman Rebecca Liggero has called the indictment baseless and said it is business as usual for Bovada customers."

This isn't the first time the bodog.com domain has been seized. Last time it was taken from a patent company but they eventually got the domain back.

Betting Partners is the affiliate program for Bodog and Bovada.

Calvin Ayre, the former online gambling billionaire, pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge, ending a five-year criminal prosecution in which federal prosecutors had pursued felony charges against him and the firm he established, Bodog Entertainment Group.

Ayre acknowledged to being an accessory after the fact charge that was related to the transfer of gambling information in violation of the federal Wire Act. Federal prosecutors dismissed criminal charges against Ayre, Bodog, and three other Canadian men that were involved in the case at the same time.

After all the investigations, Calvin Ayre pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor charge via telephone through his lawyer’s office in Vancouver. He participated in a hearing that was done in Baltimore’s federal court.

Since Calvin Ayre is not American, he decided to never go to the United States to face any of the charges that were filed against him. In addition to that, Calvin Ayre reacquired the domain name for Bodog that had been seized by federal prosecutors as part of the criminal case through a payment of $100,000.

Sentece 

Ayre was sentenced to one year of unsupervised probation and a $500,000 fine by Judge Catherine Blake. Ayre also agreed not to pursue any claims against the $66 million that had been confiscated by federal authorities from payment processors in a forfeiture proceeding linked to the case. It is said that that specific amount of money belongs to large number of gamblers located within the United States of America.

The former Canadian billionaire’s lawyer had something to say after the final sentence. “Ayre personally ensured that any Bodog brand player was made whole". “Mr. Ayre is pleased with the outcome of this case. He is even more pleased that this five-year ordeal is finally over for him and for the others who were charged. He looks forward to moving forward with his life”.

After having read and analyzed this statement made by Barry Boss, Calvin Ayre’s lawyer, it is not difficult to see how happy they really are with the final sentence. Sadly, the same cannot be said about the thousands of players that were scammed by these wicked actions.

In the years after his indictment by US authorities, Ayre had remained stubborn, insisting he had done nothing wrong. Ayre said he had resigned from the Costa Rican company he had created, which had processed billions of dollars in internet wagers, and that the Bodog name had been transferred to the Morris Mohawk Gaming Group, which is based in the Kahnawake region near Montreal.

Ayre's lawyers and federal prosecutors issued a joint sentencing memorandum in federal court, citing Ayre's charity activities and achievements.

Agreement

Part of the memo says. “The proposed plea agreement best serves the interests of justice while taking into account the practical realities that the case presents. It also goes on by stating the following. “Even with vigorous attempts to extradite Mr. Ayre, it would take years to conclude this case absent a plea agreement. The proposed resolution accordingly provides for a finality that would otherwise prove elusive."

At the end of everything that happened and had been stated by the authorities and the individuals involved in the case, the final result in none other than a feeling of uneasiness and impotence across the United States and the players located in the territory.