| Real
Casinos> 2009
- Real Casinos News Archive> Discussions with the US Department of Justice
PartyGaming notes the story published in today’s Financial
Times regarding an agreement reached between the United States Attorney’s
Office for the Southern District of New York (the “DoJ”)
and Anurag Dikshit, one of the Company’s founder shareholders.
As PartyGaming stated in its announcement on 4 June 2007, the Company
initiated discussions with the DoJ with the aim of removing any
uncertainty regarding the Company’s legal status in the United
States in respect of the period prior to the passing of the Unlawful
Internet Gambling Enforcement Act on 13 October 2006, when the Company
allowed customers in the US to play or make deposits on the group’s
real money sites. The Company cannot comment on the accuracy of
the report in today’s Financial Times concerning developments
involving Mr Dikshit, but any such developments are completely independent
from those of the Company and as such should not be seen as bearing
any guidance to the nature of the Company’s own discussions.
The Company’s discussions with the DoJ have made good progress
and it is currently negotiating the final terms of a possible settlement
with the DoJ. Whilst these discussions are at an advanced stage,
the terms of any settlement have not yet been finalised and there
can be no guarantee that an agreement will be reached between the
Company and the DoJ.
However, on the basis of the discussions to-date, PartyGaming expects
any settlement with the DoJ to involve a payment by the Company
of an amount that is significantly lower than that reported to be
paid by Mr Dikshit in today’s Financial Times. In addition,
the Company believes that any such settlement is unlikely to include
a criminal plea on the part of the Company or any director.
A further announcement will be made in due course once the settlement
negotiation has concluded.
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