Banking: SunFirst closed but litigation lives on
Utah's SunFirst Bank has been closed by regulators but some USD15 million in customer accounts has been frozen by prosecutors investigating allegations of involvement in facilitating payments for online gambling within the USA.
The bank's chairman, John Campos is facing federal charges that his bank processed internet poker transactions. He denies the charges. His co-accused, Las Vegas resident Chad Elie also denies the allegations.
Media reports in Nevada say that the bank had previously been ordered by the Federal Trade Commission to cease its business relationship with one Jeremy Johnson who, it was alleged, had used companies to fraudulently obtain almost USD290 million by conning victims into taking "trial memberships for bogus government-grant and money-making schemes, and then repeatedly charging them monthly fees for these and other memberships that they never signed up for.'' In addition to the FTC action, criminal charges are pending against Johnson.
The Campos case is being handled in Manhattan and relates to the activities of PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
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