Account Services asks a judge to order the return of seized online poker funds

San Diego-based Account Services Corporation, one of several online payment processors servicing U.S. players, has asked a federal judge to order the return of nearly $14 million, as it believes, was improperly seized by authorities from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Southern District of New York. Account Services was one of several payment processors targeted by the DoJ, with nearly $40 million – largely consisting of payments of winnings and returned deposits – being seized in early June.

The July 10th motion, filed by the offices of San Diego attorney Michael Panzer, involves two bank accounts used in the processing of online-poker payments. An account at a Wells Fargo Bank in California had about $13 million seized, while an additional $1 million was taken from two accounts at San Diego-based Union Bank. The Wells Fargo bank was served with a warrant, while the Union Bank was served with a “warrantless seizure,” according to the motion, although one was supplied roughly two weeks later.

The major part of the 40-page motion has clear arguments for why poker should be treated legally as a game of skill and not the type of illegal gambling activity that is prohibit. Besides, the million-member strong Poker Players Alliance also issued a statement on Friday praising the motion. According to the statement, the PPA fully endorsed the arguments that Account Services has included in their filing.