Via the vigilant Niall O’Connor of Betting Market, the Washington Post:
Three Worked the Web to Help Terrorists
British Case Reveals How Stolen Credit Card Data Bought Supplies for Operatives[...] Al-Daour also allegedly laundered money through online gambling sites, using accounts set up with stolen credit card numbers and victims’ identities, and ran up thousand-dollar tabs at such sites as AbsolutePoker.com, BetFair.com, BetonBet.com, Canbet.com, Eurobet.com, NoblePoker.com and ParadisePoker.com. Al-Daour and other members of the group conducted 350 transactions at 43 different online wagering sites, using more than 130 compromised credit card accounts. Winnings were withdrawn and transferred to online bank accounts the men controlled. Investigators in the United States and abroad spent hundreds of hours tracking the financial activities of the three men across thousands of merchants in more than a dozen countries. The case against them relied on evidence that they had incited others to commit terrorist acts, rather than evidence of cyber-crime. But one investigator who worked on the case said the story of how the three men funded their operations is an indicator of methods that other terrorist cells either have already adopted or are likely to. [...]
Thanks for the tip, Niall.
UPDATE…
BetFair’s P.R. release (BetFair PDF file):
London, 11th July 2007
There have been a number of recent media articles suggesting that terrorist offences concerning planned attacks in London in November 2005, for which Waseem Mughal and Younis Tsouli were convicted, involved money laundering through Betfair’s site. Indeed an individual was convicted for specific money laundering/fundraising offences, and the articles have suggested successful attempts to launder money through Betfair.
A number of attempts were made to use Betfair’s site fraudulently, but they were unsuccessful: they were identified; accounts were closed; and all relevant information was shared with the police. It is simply incorrect to say in respect of Betfair that “winnings were withdrawn and transferred to online bank accounts under their [the terrorists’] controlâ€.
We worked with the police during this investigation, and continue to do so as necessary. We are pleased to have played our part in providing evidence to them.
We are prevented from disclosing anything further.
Notes to Editors:
1. Betfair has a money laundering team of four full time employees, headed by a former Detective Chief Inspector in the Serious & Economic Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police.
2. Betfair is compliant with the Proceeds of Crime Act and the soon-to-be-implemented EU Directive on money laundering.
For further information, please contact Mark Davies, +44 20 8834 8208
