The United States of WTF?

Many of you (many? can't be more than one or two of you left, these days) know that I play online poker. Some of you are likely aware of the problems that eWallet sites (similar to PayPal) that work with online gaming sites are having. In case you're not aware, the biggest eWallet that worked with all the gaming sites was called Neteller, and they're based somewhere in the UK, I believe, and they're traded on the London Stock Exchange. They probably handled 60% or more of all the online gambling transactions, especially poker. Recently, the federal goverment arrested two of the founding members, who did nothing more these days than sit on the board, for wire fraud, money laundering, etc etc, all because they were stupid enough to step onto US soil. That one action has had a huge ripple thru the online poker industry. Most of the eWallets have either shut down entirely, or prohibited US-based customers from utilitzing their services, and several of the online casinos have pulled out of the US market. The Department of Justice has also seized almost $55 million from Neteller, money that actually belongs to the individual account holders. My buddy Troll has a little bit of money he can't access because the account is frozen. Another poker blogger was playing a live tournament in Los Angeles recently. He got to talking to the people at his table, and between four of them they had over $55,000 tied up by Neteller. So now that I've gotten my non-poker blogging audience somewhat up to speed, (with apologies to Paul Harvey) here's the rest of the story.

I presume most of you have heard about Bank of America, and their decision to allow undocumented aliens to open bank accounts, credit cards and mortgages. Things that make you go huh? According to B of A, they are trying to service the ever growing Hispanic market. Fine. Service those here in this country legally. Technically, and I'd really need a lawyer to back me up on this, I would think that anybody at B of A either connected to this policy, or connected to the implementation of this policy could be found guilty of aiding and abetting criminals. I mean, it IS a crime to be in the country illegally, right? But ok, let's move beyond Bank of Attitude (yes I used to bank there, years ago, and Attitude is right...customer service sucks, apparently unless you're in the country illegally).

We have our beloved federal government prosecuting two former employees of a foreign company, one (I believe) located in another country who happens to be one of our strongest allies, and indirectly persecuting those of us who play poker and otherwise gamb00l online all in the name of fraud prevention and prevention of terrorism. Noble goals, and one can certainly understand the government of these here United States of America wanting to protect herself and her citizens from these crimes. But they're not going after a financial institution, one of the largest financial institutions, for proudly publicizing that they don't require a valid US-issued identification card (like a Social Security Card, a Drivers License, or a Passport/Visa) to grant bank accounts and credit. Hmmm. Sounds like fraud to me. And one of the other benefits that B of A trumpets is that people who open these accounts can wire money from their account to Mexico for free! Just try and find a bank willing to do that for you, especially without proper identification. But that sure seems like it would be conducive to money laundering, and would be very well-suited to (let's just say here, not that I'm trying to stereotype...just using a prevalent example) a radical Imam at an Islamic mosque laundering money for terrorism. Again, I'm not saying they all do this, just using the example. This Imam extolls his parishoners to donate money to the Jihad against the West, against Israel, whomever. Much in the same fashion as Irish Republican Army "representatives" would do in countless bar back rooms in Boston and other areas (just to be fair). Because B of A doesn't require proper documentation to open an account, what's to stop this Imam, one of his parishoners, or whomever (an undocumented worker? they're easy to find here in So Cal) to open an account at B of A. Even to further hide the paper trail, money deposited could even be wired into an account in Mexico (it can't be that difficult to open an account down there), and THEN have the money wired into yet a 3rd bank, maybe in the Cayman Islands or something. Either way, it sure seems like an easy method to finance terrorism. And our federal government is going after an internet business based somewhere in the UK, I believe, not to mention cutting us off from online gambling (except for appropriately state sponsored methods, like lottery and horse racing). Am I alone in thinking that our government's priorities are kinda, what's the word I'm looking for, oh yeah, FUCKED UP BEYOND ALL RECOGNITION?!?!?!?!