Abramoff Received Payments From Online Gaming Cos [View All]

[Robbien]

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Partygaming PLC (PRTY.LN), SportingBet PLC (SBT.LN) and other online gaming companies paid millions of dollars to Washington lobbyists linked to Jack Abramoff to help them thwart U.S. anti-gambling legislation, The Financial Times reported on its Web site Thursday.

Abramoff's conviction on criminal corruption charges earlier this year - and the downfall of many of his associates - opened the door for the passage last weekend of a law that he and the companies staunchly opposed, the report said.

Lobbying records analyzed by the FT show that the companies were closely connected to Abramoff and his team - the same men whose political ties for years played a central part in helping insulate the gambling industry from laws and regulations. The demise of Abramoff and his colleagues substantially weakened the gambling companies' political hand in Washington, paving the way for the bill's passage.

SportingBet spent $2.2 million from 1998 to 2005 lobbying Washington lawmakers on issues involving online gaming, the FT reported, citing figures compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, which tracks lobbying, and other public filings.

http://www.easybourse.com/Website/dynamic/News.php?NewsID=68088&lang=fra&NewsRubrique=2

and from the MSN Money site:

Among other lobbyists, the company hired: Tony Rudy, a former aide to ex-congressman Tom DeLay and who has pleaded guilty to bribery charges in connection to the Abramoff scandal; and Neil Volz, a former congressional chief of staff who has also pleaded guilty to bribing his former boss, Congressman Bob Ney. SportingBet declined to comment.

PartyGaming, the largest online gaming website, initially declined to disclose who their lobbyists in Washington were, but when presented evidence acknowledged that the company was and is currently represented by Gibraltar-based International Interactive Alliance (IIA), a company that formerly had close ties to Mr Abramoff.

Although most of the public scrutiny of Mr Abramoff's wheeling and dealing in Washington has been centred on his work on behalf of Native Americans' gambling interests, records show that the IIA, which hired Mr Abramoff in 2003, was a lucrative client of the former lobbyist. Over just one and a half years, IIA paid Mr Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig, $1.3m for Mr Abramoff's services. In all, IIA has spent at least $1.9m on its lobbying campaign, and continues to be represented by Greenberg Traurig.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.asp?feed=FT&Date=20061005&ID=6082026