Sportingbet should have used some of that 33 mil for better Paradise Poker girls back in 2006.
UK-listed online gambling company Sportingbet Plc entered into a non-prosecution agreement today with US authorities in the Southern District of New York in exchange for forking over $33 million for its online gambling operations prior to the UIGEA.
The settlement now makes Sportingbet, which owns Paradise Poker, a prime takover target (see PartyGaming/Bwin merger) and should ease the way for them to return to the US market if/when Congress finally gets around to undoing the UIGEA.
According to BusinessWeek, shares of Sportingbet jumped 10% upon news of the settlement, which comes more than a year after PartyGaming similarly agreed to pay $105 mil to avoid prosecution.
As part of the agreement, Sportingbet has agreed to cooperate with the FBI and a continuing probe by the US Attorneys office (SDNY) into their US gambling operations.
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