The Anurag Dikshit Stimulus Package
In 2009 the United States government will be receiving a stimulus package from the most unlikely of individuals. PartyGaming co-founder and billionaire, Anurag Dikshit, has agreed to forfeit more than $300 million of his personal fortune over to the U.S. government in exchange for clemency for his role in allowing Stateside gamblers to bet online at PartyGaming's flagship poker room, PartyPoker.
The entire fine will be paid in 2009 and an additional fine is expected to be paid by the company itself within the next few months.
Where does all that money go?
The feds have to put any seized money into a dedicated fund, which presumably is used to help boost the nation's ailing economy. We say "presumably" because nobody really knows where the Dikshit funds will end up.
States and local jurisdictions are an entirely different animal it seems.
One of Dikshit's colleagues, Peter Dicks, a chairman at Sportingbet, settled with the state of Louisiana after local law enforcement issued an arrest warrant against him and various online gambling executives for accepting bets from Louisiana residents.
Dicks reportedly paid a $400,000 fine to the state of Louisiana. That can be seen as quite the bargain compared to the Dikshit settlement.
For some reason Gambling911.com has a funny feeling little if any of that $400,000 went towards helping Hurricane Katrina victims. We could be wrong, but probably not.
The Economist recently looked at where money ended up in local drug busts and uncovered some pretty startling discoveries.
In Texas and Georgia, sheriffs and district attorneys get to keep any seized loot for their departments, the Economist learned.
And what was that money used for you might be asking?
A margarita machine, a training seminar in Hawaii, and a $90,000 sports car used to advertise anti-drug programs.
Payton O'Brien, Gambling911.com Senior Editor
