Three years ago Royal Canadian Mounted Police, while investigating possible Internet gambling and pornography charges, swept through World Gaming's offices in Vancouver, hauling off computers and documents and helping send the company into a near-fatal tailspin. The company, at the time called Starnet Communications, reached a settlement with the RCMP on Aug. 18.
The settlement includes a guilty plea by the company to one charge of keeping a device for gambling or betting, a violation of Section 202 (1) b of the Canadian criminal code. World Gaming was required to pay a CA$100,000 fine along with a $15,000 victim surcharge. In addition, the company was forced to forfeit US$3.9 million from the $7.6 million in funds that had been frozen since the RCMP raided the company's office.