Lefebvre’s fellow NETeller co-founder Stephen Lawrence, arrested on the same charges simultaneously on the other side of the United States, appeared in court on Tuesday. It has not been revealed whether he has been offered or posted bail. Regardless, both men are scheduled to appear in the Southern District of New York Court later in eight days’ time, a journey for which Lefebvre is permitted to exclude from the travelling restrictions of his bail.
John Lefebvre, one of the two co-founders of NETeller who were apprehended on Monday, has been released on personal-recognisance bail for $5 million. The 55-year-old appeared in front of a magistrates’ court on Wednesday morning, and agreed that the terms of his bail must include the confiscation of his passport, limited supervision, and the requirement to remain within the central district of his native California.
After the arrests on Monday, NETeller suspended its ‘Instacash option’ – the popular payment method allowing online gamblers to access and transfer funds online, without first revealing details on their financial standings. It has also suspended instant credit card transactions for deposits indefinitely.
Both men face charges relating to money laundering, taking billions of dollars of Internet gambling proceeds in their operation of the e-wallet service.