News
Neteller Gets Clean Bill of Health by US Justice Dept
Tuesday, 25 August 2009 01:01
The hugely popular online e-wallet Neteller, which is now a part of the successful e-cash processing company Neovia Financial Plc, has been let off the hook by the US Justice Dept following their court appearance in 2007 over claims of unlicensed money transactions involving US citizens.
The e-cash company was originally formed by John Lefebvre and Stephen Lawrence in 1999 in the UK as Neteller Plc and is regulated by the UK's FSA (Financial Services Authority) within the European Union. Two years ago, Neteller was taken under the wing of the global payments company Neovia Financial Plc, which is also a British company that is Isle of Mann based and along with Neteller e-wallet provides the Netbanx gateway and debit card products from Net+ which are utilised by consumers as well as merchants in more than 160 countries.
Neteller ran into trouble with the US Justice Dept in 2007 leading to their withdrawal from the entire North American market along with the severance of negotiations with officials. Lefebvre and Lawrence negotiated a deal with the US Justice Dept which meant them handing over $136 million along with a guilty plea to the operation of their “unlicensed money transmitting business” along with facilitation of “unlawful transactions” that occurred between US players and online gambling site operators.
That agreement included the deferment of prosecution for two years, which has now expired. This means that the threat of prosecution of the company or its founders has now dissolved. A Notice of Dismissal for the Complaint that was initially filed against it has been issued to Neovia Financial Plc by the United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York which confirms the agreement has expired. That Notice of Dismissal now confirms that Neovia Financial Plc has met all its conditions of the filed Deferred Prosecution Agreement.
The company itself continues to expand as their services have now been made available in countries such as Macedonia, Croatia, Jordan, Oman and Malaysia which adds to its already wide ranging reach of online businesses and customers around the world.
