Ira Rubin arrested in Guatemala

Written On  4/28/11 By Recentpoker.com staff writer  Lenny Wasman :

ANOTHER INDICTMENT DEFENDANT ARRESTED
 
Rubin picked up in Guatemala
 
Ira Rubin, one of 11 people recently indicted for banking and allegedly illegal online gambling offences in the United States, made an initial appearance in a US court this week after being arrested in Guatemala.
 
Rubin told U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea M. Simonton in Miami that he had not been able to make telephone calls since his arrest.
 
Judge Simonton set a hearing for April 29 to determine whether Rubin will hire a local lawyer to represent him for another hearing scheduled for May 2, reports the Bloomberg news agency.
 
Rubin will remain in detention in Miami in the meantime. He is one of the defendants caught up in federal indictments against individuals associated with PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.
 
The indictments claim that Rubin assisted the three poker companies by disguising payments to them as transactions with “phony Internet merchants."
 
Rubin faces nine counts, including conspiracy to violate the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act; three counts of violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Act in connection with Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker; three counts of operation of an illegal gambling business in connection with Pokerstars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker; conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering conspiracy.