Bodog.com Domain Seized, Calvin Ayre Indicted, [Update] Ayre Responds

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) seized the Bodog.com domain on Monday. Today, Bodog founder Calvin Ayre has been indicted by Federal prosecutors.

Update 21:00 CET: Calvin Ayre responds

Calvin Ayre has responded to the news of his indictment on his own site, calvinayre.com:

“I see this as abuse of the US criminal justice system for the commercial gain of large US corporations. It is clear that the online gaming industry is legal under international law and in the case of these documents is it also clear that the rule of law was not allowed to slow down a rush to try to win the war of public opinion."

"These documents were filed with Forbes magazine before they were filed anywhere else and were drafted with the consumption of the media as a primary objective. We will all look at this and discuss the future with our advisors, but it will not stop my many business interests globally that are unrelated to anything in the US and it will not stop my many charity projects through my foundation.”

The site also posted the official indictment papers. These also reveal that Bodog Entertainment is accused of paying over $100 million in sports gambling winnings by bank wire and cheques through payment processors in the US, and spending $42 million through an unnamed media company to advertise to US gamblers.

Update 16:45 CET: Calvin Ayre Indicted

Calvin Ayre

According to Forbes, Bodog founder Calvin Ayre has been indicted by Federal prosecutors in Baltimore. He has been accused of operating an illegal gambling business and conspiring to commit money laundering.

Three other men have also been indicted by US Attorney Rod Rosenstein - James Philip, David Ferguson, and Derrick Maloney. The company, Bodog Entertainment Group, is also under indictment.

Additionally, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has seized the Bodog.com domain name. We will bring you more on this breaking news as it unfolds.

Bodog.com domain seized

An article at CalvinAyre.com states that initial news of the seizure came via a leaked notice sent from the DHS to VeriSign, the web registrar of .com domains including the one belonging to Bodog.

Calvin Ayre, founder of the Bodog Brand, said: "BodogBrand.com is a brand-licensing organisation based outside the US. The brand left the market last year and the domain in question has been dormant globally for longer than that. We are only currently doing brand licensing deals outside the US so this domain had no place in any of our current plans."

The Bodog.com domain has been inactive for a few months already, as the Bodog Brand left the US in July 2011. In December 2011, Bodog launched Bovada.lv, a domain which is still active and which is used to serve US players.

It is currently unclear whether other Bodog Brand domains will be targeted by the United States Department of Homeland Security, but we will keep you up to date on PokerStrategy.com as this story develops - stay tuned.

The notice of seizure on the Bodog.com website

by vhallee and Barry Carter.