Federal authorities unsealed indictments against the operators of some of the world's largest online gambling sites and moved Friday to seize their U.S domains.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Preet Bharara, charged Isai Scheinberg, the founder of PokerStars, and Raymond Bitar, the founder of Full Tilt Poker, and nine others of fraudulently scheming to thwart a 2006 antigaming law that prohibits U.S. banks from processing internet wagers and payments.

The indictments seek the return of $3 billion in allegedly ill-gotten gains. The charges come amid renewed efforts to legalize online gaming in the United States, and as U.S. authorities increasingly invoke asset-forfeiture statutes to seize the American online domains of sites deemed illicit.

Those indicted on Friday are accused of masking payments from U.S. gamblers (.pdf) in the form of jewelry, golf balls and flower sales – all in a bid to circumvent the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The top-level domain seizures include PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB and Absolute Poker. Some of the sites were still rendering Friday afternoon.

Defendant John Campos, vice president of SunFirst Bank of Utah, is accused of processing gambling revenues in exchange for a $10 million "investment," according to the indictment. Campos is expected to make his first court appearance Monday.

"As charged, these defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits. Moreover, as we allege, in their zeal to circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud," the U.S. attorney said in a statement.

Two of the world's biggest online gaming houses – PokerStars, based in the Isle of Man, and Full Tilt, based in Ireland – account for about $1.4 billion in revenues, Forbes said.

Scheinberg and Bitar have not been arrested and are located outside the United States. The government said it was working with foreign governments and Interpol to secure their arrests and assets.

Photo: JohnSeb/Flickr

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