According to our sources in Costa Rica and several web reports from @KevMath and @TaoPauly we’ve learned that the Costa Rican offices of Pokerstars, Absolute Poker and UB were raided earlier today by the OIJ, which is similar to the FBI in the U.S.. Police also raided several homes that are linked to the owners of Absolute Poker and UB.
Pokerstars VIP Manager Steve posted this on 2+2 a couple of hours ago, “PokerStars continues to operate the world’s largest poker room, business as usual. It is true that the OIJ is currently at the PokerStars Costa Rican office and has sent employees home temporarily, but employees will be able to return in a few hours. PokerStars expects the office to return to business as usual in short order as this action was most likely taken as a response to problems experienced by other local companies in the same industry.” He’s of course referring to Absolute Poker and UB. Police left the Pokerstars offices shortly after arriving. Pokerstars is based on the Isle of Man and only have a small support staff in Costa Rica
Absolute Poker and UB seem to be the main focus of today’s raids of the OIJ. The Absolute Poker and UB employees went to the “Ministry of Work” fearing they wouldn’t be paid by Absolute Poker/UB COO Paul Leggett. Most of today’s action seems to have been spurned on by this and Costa Rica’s very strict labor laws.
We’ll stay on top of this story and continue to bring you the latest.