Will the World be a Safer Place Now?

In recent casino news, an article appeared in The Odenton Patch covering an Anne Arundel County Police Department press conference. The officers were celebrating the compensation for their assistance in the federal investigation which seized over $30 million dollars in online gambling funds. Photos were taken of them holding one of those massive sized checks. Although the operation was named “Operation Texas Hold’em,” it is completely separate from the crackdown on the major poker sites Full Tilt and Poker Stars.

So the story goes, the police force acted as a legitimate online payment processor processing payments for online gambling sites. This armed the U.S. federal government with the evidence they needed to seize funds deposited into these sites. The undercover processor’s website bears the following notice to people who visit:

                                              NOTICE

Linwood Payment Solutions is a Department of Homeland Security Undercover Business set up to identify and prosecute companies accepting and paying out funds for U.S. customers who gamble online illegally.

If you have questions regarding funds withdrawn from your bank account for gambling purposes contact the online gambling company you provided your banking information to.

I can just imagine how the how outraged Americans effected by this sting must be. They won’t see a penny of the money they deposited via the fake processor created by the government. Will they take comfort in the fact that the world will be a safer place? Well it will because the police force is using the reward money to beef up the department. The police received cash for disturbing the lives of Americans who just want the right to spend their money the way they want to. Although online gambling is illegal in the states, I still feel that these are innocent people who do not deserve to have their money stolen from them. They every intention of making a few bets but instead the money will be used to fund equipment for the Anne Arundel County Police Department.

Please share your thoughts.