Involvement in The Gaming Industry
Ruth Parasol launched Starluck Casino Online in the Caribbean in 1997. In 1998, she made software engineer Anurag Dikshit a partner in her business, which later became known as PartyGaming Plc. In turn, Dikshit made Parasol a partner in his IT services business based in India. Vikrant Bhargava and Russ DeLeon joined as principals of Party Gaming in 2000 and 2001 respectively. Parasol served as a consultant to PartyGaming Plc until December 2006 and remains its largest shareholder today.
After the launch of PartyPoker.com in 2001, PartyGaming Plc grew dramatically, generating over $500 million in annual profits by 2005. In June 2005, PartyGaming Plc floated its IPO on the London Stock Exchange at a value of £4.64 billion ($8.46 billion), and in September of that year was admitted to the FTSE 100 list of companies. In October 2006, PartyGaming publicly withdrew from the US market after the passage The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), anti-gambling legislation approved by the U.S. Congress as part of the SAFE Port Act. As a result, the company’s share price dropped 60% and the company subsequently exited the FTSE 100.
In 2008, Anurag Dikshit pleaded guilty to the Federal Wire Act, agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and personally paid $300 million to the United States Justice Department as part of his plea. In 2009, PartyGaming entered a non-prosecution agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and paid a fine of $105 million. In 2011, the Justice Department reversed its earlier position, determining that the Wire Act does not apply to online poker and casino games, only to sports betting.
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