Although all money, computers and original documents seized during a June raid have been returned, the Texas Attorney General's office has turned over the investigation of MonetizeMedia.com to the U.S. Justice Department. On Friday a Texas judge signed an unopposed motion, which allowed for the return of the all seized items. Attorney General John Cornyn, however, has kept a copy of documents and materials from the company's hard drives. MonetizeMedia has been targeted for investigation following allegations that it was illegally involved in Internet gambling.
Following months of investigation, the Attorney General Cornyn hasn't filed any charges. According to spokesperson Heather Browne, the Attorney General's role now "is to aid the investigation." The Department of Justice filed a federal grand jury subpoena last week, which IGN has been unable to obtain yet. So far, federal authorities haven't indicated what they hope the investigation will uncover.
During previous interviews, MonetizeMedia officials discredited both the allegations and the Attorney General's investigation. "We genuinely did not do anything wrong," maintains company spokesman Don Beavers. Instead, Beavers characterized the original search warrant as an "absolute misrepresentation of facts." (See "Texas
Showdown".) Nonetheless, during a July interview AG spokesman Mark Heckmann maintained that "we have significant evidence of illegal activity."
Even with the return of the seized items, which includes $35,000 from a payroll account, the company is unlikely to build up a business that has been devastated by the raid. MonetizeMedia was scheduled to go
public October 10, but those plans have crashed along with most of the company's income. Shortly after the raid, the company laid off more than half of its staff. MonetizeMedia operates a search engine that listed and accepted ads from online gambling sites.