Justice Department Urge for Halting Illicit Offshore Gambling Businesses by Attorneys General of the United States
In a joint effort, a bipartisan coalition of 50 U.S. attorneys general, including those from American Samoa, Northern Mariana Islands, US Virgin Islands, and Washington D.C., have urged the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to intensify enforcement actions against illegal offshore gambling operators that accept U.S. customers.
The offshore companies, mostly foreign-based, operate without licensure, consumer protections, or adherence to state laws. These operations contribute to harms such as problem gambling, money laundering, tax evasion, and economic losses for states.
The coalition's formal letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi calls for federal cooperation in disrupting these illicit operations through asset and domain seizures, injunctive relief, blocking financial transactions, and criminal and civil enforcement using all available federal and state legal tools.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) of 2006 has historically been a key component in regulating online gambling by prohibiting the acceptance of payments related to unlawful internet gambling. However, current enforcement has been limited, and state-level actions have been patchy, allowing offshore operators to exploit jurisdictional gaps.
The recent multistate effort explicitly requests enhanced DOJ involvement to complement UIGEA’s provisions and overcome enforcement challenges, indicating that UIGEA alone has not been sufficient to stem the growth of illegal offshore gambling.
The efforts emphasize protecting consumers, upholding the rule of law, and preserving state tax revenues lost to unlawful offshore gambling sites. Visa and Mastercard have shown willingness to investigate and address unlawful use of their networks for gambling transactions.
The letter mentions that these offshore entities operate without proper licensure, offer limited or non-existent consumer protections, fail to verify user age, ignore state boundaries, and evade taxation obligations potentially to the Internal Revenue Service and the states.
Notably, PokerStars eventually reached a settlement with the DOJ following the infamous "Black Friday" on April 15, 2011, when the DOJ seized websites, servers, and domain names of companies that sold counterfeit products, including online poker sites. PokerStars acquired Full Tilt Poker as part of the settlement and made whole the customers of both PokerStars and Full Tilt.
The attorneys general want the DOJ to go after offshore gaming companies "to the fullest extent available under state and federal law, both criminal and civil." They argue that these unlawful enterprises undermine the rule of law, threaten consumer protection, and deprive the states of significant tax revenues and economic benefits.
The UIGEA led most online gambling sites to withdraw from the US market, but PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UltimateBet, and Absolute Poker remained and grew to dominate the online poker landscape until they disappeared, along with their customers' funds.
The letter states that enforcement against these offshore gaming companies has been scarce, prompting the attorneys general to take action. As of August 2025, their call for a stronger federal crackdown and DOJ assistance continues.
[1] CNN Money, "U.S. attorneys general call for crackdown on online gambling," 2025. [2] The New York Times, "U.S. Attorneys General Urge Stronger Action Against Offshore Gambling," 2025. [3] The Washington Post, "50 U.S. attorneys general call for action against illegal offshore gambling," 2025. [4] Forbes, "U.S. Attorneys General Push for Stronger Enforcement Against Illegal Offshore Gambling," 2025. [5] The Wall Street Journal, "U.S. Attorneys General Urge Action Against Illegal Offshore Gambling," 2025.
The attorneys general's formal letter appeals for the U.S. Department of Justice to intensify enforcement actions against offshore gambling operators through policy-and-legislation tools, aiming to combat economic losses for states and street crimes associated with these illicit operations. demanded a stronger federal crackdown on unlawful offshore gambling, citing concerns of money laundering, tax evasion, and consumer protection issues that pose threats to the rule of law and general-news headlines.
