Canadian in Hot Water over Online Gambling Fraud

Life was going great for 34-year-old Canadian Douglas Rennick, until U.S. Federal Agents recently swooped down on the 'entrepreneur' arresting him on charges of laundering over $350m on behalf of some off-shore online gambling operations and, in doing so, violating U.S. anti-online gambling laws.

Rennick has been accused by U.S. authorities of three felony counts - conspiracy to commit bank fraud, engage in money laundering, and operate an illegal gambling business - related to the scheme whereby he allegedly set up a string of fake businesses between February 2007 and June 2009, which he used as 'fronts'.

He operated the fake companies to facilitate large illegal money transactions with U.S. banks that ordinarily would not have been permissible.

Last Thursday an indictment was filed that claimed Rennick founded dummy companies including Alenis Limited, My ATM Online and KJB Financial Corporation amongst others that were designed to mislead U.S. banks. Banks were told that the companies were involved in issuing auto rebates and affiliate checks.

But in reality they were reportedly used as a way for U.S. online gambling fans to move money to fund their online gambling accounts. If convicted of this crime, Rennick faces a maximum of 55 years in prison and up to $1.75 million in fines. He allegedly had help from several unnamed conspirators in the scheme.

While Rennick undoubtedly broke the law, many in the online gambling fraternity are viewing him as a kind of 'Robin Hood' in that he was not out to destroy the integrity of U.S. banks, but rather give U.S. gamblers the chance to spend their own money on what they wanted. In this case, online gambling websites.