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The Neteller saga has taken another couple of new twists over the last month as the company was forced to deal with the repercussions of the, what some people would call, 'draconian' anti-gambling laws of the US. A few weeks ago, John David Lefebvre and Stephen Eric Lawrence, the co-founders of Neteller both pleaded guilty to charges of 'conspiracy to promote Internet gambling' which comes with a $250,000 fine and a maximum prison sentence of five years. Both men have already agreed to personally pay $100 million dollars to the US, and the company, as part of a bargain, is also to forfeit $136 million dollars worth of profits as part of a plea deal.

On top of this, Neteller is also required to return all US customers monies to their owners in full, a sum considered to be roughly $94 million, complete without charge. In effect, this shuts down the US market for Neteller, since no other type of transaction will be allowed for their US members. The period for US customers to withdrawal their money starts on July 30th and ends on January 26th, 2008. In a press release on Neteller's website, Ron Martin, the President and CEO of Neteller stated:

"This agreement resolves the USAO’s investigation relating to the Company’s former US business activities. We believe that this settlement is in the best interests of NETELLER and its shareholders. Our customers, employees and shareholders have all patiently waited for this resolution. We anticipate within the next few weeks that we will have fully implemented the plan for the return of funds to our US customers and are hopeful that, by that time, we will have restored the Company’s shares to trading on AIM. We can now begin to refocus our efforts on building and strengthening the NETELLER business in the growing markets of the European and Asia Pacific regions. I look forward to sharing further information about the Company’s progress over the coming months."

Neteller's carrot for such a hefty stick is that by acquiesing to the demands of the US Government, the latter will defer criminal charges for a period of two years, during which time Neteller will be monitored. Should they comply with all the stipulations, then after this allotted period, the Government will most likely drop the charges. Lefebvre and Lawrence, meanwhile are to be sentenced on October 29th, which will no doubt be the time of the next installment of this story.