IS TZVETKOFF BEHIND BLACK FRIDAY?

Sunday October 9, 2011 : Speculation that Aussie e-processor has turned state's evidence to save his own skin
 
Perhaps understandably, the Australian mainstream media seems to repeatedly attribute anti online gambling enforcement triumphs in the United States to the cooperation of one-time high-flying Aussie e-processor Daniel Tvetzkoff.
 
Black Friday is the latest example, with top Australian newspapers like the Sydney Morning Herald and the Brisbane Times speculating that Tzvetkoff's disclosures to save himself from a life in prison could have contributed to the US downfall of online poker giants Full Tilt Poker, Pokerstars and Absolute Poker.
 
In April last year Tzvetkoff was foolish enough to turn up at a conference in Las Vegas whilst still engaged in the industry through his [now defunct] Intabill e-processing firm.
 
He was arrested by federal enforcement officials for allegedly laundering more than $500 million in internet gambling revenues, and faced up to 75 years in a US federal prison.
 
However, over a year ago he was released after spending only 4 months in Las Vegas and New York detention centres and vanished, prompting speculation that he had turned state's evidence for the American authorities and was in an FBI witness protection program.
 
According to the US Federal Bureau of Prisons, he was released on August 23, 2010.
 
Nothing has been heard of him since, and the US Department of Justice has refused to comment on either his involvement or his whereabouts.