Timing is everything in this world, and in the case of the Department of Justice against William Scott and Jessica Davis you could say that the timing sucked. Or you could say that the timing was perfect. It all depends on what side of the internet gambling fence you sit on. If you work in the internet gambling industry, like me, then you will not be pleased with these two people. With all of the mess in Congress against internet gambling the last thing we need right now is a large court case proving that an internet gambling company set up by US citizens was money laundering. As a matter of fact, this is exactly the worst type of news that I could wish for.

William Scott and Jessica Davis have been accused of illegally inviting gamblers to send funds from the United States to the Caribbean island of Antigua for wagers over the past eight years. Their $2.5 billion offshore Internet gambling operation was dismantled by the United States Justice Department and they have been charged with laundering the gambling proceeds from online casino games and sporting events.

Scott and Davis owned and operated WorldWide Telesports Inc. which allowed punters from around the world to place bets by phone (toll-free from the US) and internet. All phone betting is clearly illegal in the United States according to the 1961 Wire Act which forbids all interstate or international phone betting. Intrastate pari-mutuel phone betting is allowed. Scott and Davis not only violated the Wire Act, but the Travel Act as well and did money laundering in an attempt to cover up their tracts. Just to make everything with these two even better, Scott is charged with trying to cover up foreign bank accounts to the Internal Revenue Service. Never mess with the IRS.

According to the indictment Scott was using a shell company called Soulbury Limited to hide personal profits. The US government found seven million dollars in gambling proceeds in Guernsey off the coast of France. The US government is seeking $250 million through forfeiture. They've been at it for awhile. They were originally charged in 1998 with a criminal complaint in US District Court for the Southern District of New York, originating from an FBI investigation into alleged wire act violations for operating WorldWide Telesports.

I wanted to find out more information about WorldWide Telesports and Soulbury Limited so I did a Google and came up with nothing on Soulbury but some interesting bits on WorldWide Telesports. According to net rumors (as I can't verify the information found on the website) WorldWide Telesports is related to Go Bet Limited. Go Bet Limited has been accused of falsifying information in order to receive money from investors then running away with the funds and leaving the investors with nothing.

Another internet rumor proved even more interesting. One site links William "Billy" Scott with Cryptologic Inc. and Intercasino.com. This connection reeks of conspiracy theories, large mafia organizations, and paranoia. I have to take this information with a grain of salt, as it obviously comes from a site with an ax to grind. Would you call a site called cryptologicsucks.com biased? Hmmm, maybe. However biased it is it is also incredibly entertaining.

You can feel the passion and belief in the text about Scott, according to cryptologicsucks.com he "is the bookie from Toledo, Ohio and the criminal who financed Cryptologic Inc. and Intercasino.com and Sands of the Caribbean as well as many illegal sportsbooks. He laundered his heroin and other dirty money by financing Cryptologic Inc. and Intercasino.com and other fraudulent companies. Today, he still does heavy business with the Russian Mafia, Cryptologic Inc. and uses their rigged software under a large number of different names. This is the perfect method to launder his dirty money, and Cryptologic Inc. needs him to support the falling share price of their junk and illegal company, openly trading on the stock market.
Cryptologic's Bill Scott remains in Antigua as a fugitive because he will be arrested if he returns to the U.S because a federal warrant has been issued for his arrest.
Cryptologic's Bill Scott served time in federal prison for racketeering and other offences, including six years in prison for extortion and conspiracy, and he has been heavily involved with heroin and cocaine trafficking, tax fraud and illegal gambling. He served another sentence of two years in federal prison for other offences.
A warrant has been issued for his arrest on felony conspiracy charges, but he's not about to surrender. Cryptologic's Bill Scott is a member of one of Toledo's best known racketeering families and he was arrested and jailed too many times to keep track."

I've played at Sands of the Caribbean and I can tell you I thought the place was brilliant. I played there last year, won money, and got paid. They have a fantastic reputation on the various gambling message boards and forums. Their games are audited monthly by PriceWaterHouse Coopers and the results are posted clearly on their site. I have a hard time believing that such a great and reputable internet casino would be ensconced in something so nasty as drug trafficking. As such while I found cryptologicsucks.com entertaining, it's only entertaining and not something I would take seriously.

Cryptologic is regularly reviewed on Fool.com as a good stock to own, and if there was something funny in their annual review I think someone at Fool.com would have mentioned it by now. It is true that Scott remains in Antigua, and now thanks to the department of justice he will probably remain there. However, this is his own stupidity, as anyone who is in the industry is aware of the 1961 Wire Act. Allowing for people to place their bets on a phone-line was simply a stupid thing to do, but then so is tax fraud. William Scott and Jessica Davis wanted to make money in internet gambling, but they didn't stay within the rules. Only allow people to place bets on the internet. Phone is for support only.

Posted on: May 21, 2006

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