Many online poker players have had one question on their minds over the past few days: “Why?” Why did the U.S. Department of Justice seize the domains belong to PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, UB.com, and Absolute Poker? Why were indictments handed down implicating the founders of those sites? Why can’t I get my money out of cyberspace? Why on Earth did this happen?

For a possible answer, we turn to an article that appeared in Business Insider in recent days entitled “Meet the Boy Genius Who Just Took Down the Online Poker Industry.” Australian payment processor Daniel Tzvetkoff (pictured above), who operated Intabill, may have tipped the U.S. Department of Justice off to the inside world of internet gambling. And we stress that this is speculation.

The article from Business Insider noted, “Last April, Tzvetkoff was arrested in Las Vegas and charged with the same crimes those sites’ founders were charged with today: money laundering, bank fraud, wire fraud. As an Australian citizen with a lot of cash, he was considered a flight risk and denied bail. Then after a ‘secret’ meeting with prosecutors last August, he was suddenly out on bail. And now his former colleagues are the ones facing serious prison time.”

Here’s some background information for you. In May 2009, an article in Australia’s Courier-Mail explained how Intabill found itself in hot water with the world’s largest online poker sites: “Funds were sent to online poker houses often via a processing company or an intermediary – a Salt Lake-based independent company called Impact. Today, Intabill owes four of the largest online poker sites in the world about $30 million.”

The $30 million was owed to sites like PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker, Absolute Poker, UB, and Golden Palace. To make matters worse, in June 2009, a $52 million lawsuit was filed against Intabill. Poker News Daily cited the “worldwide market conditions” following the economic collapse of 2008 as a contributing factor to Intabill’s eventual demise. At its height, the company reportedly had over 5,000 customers across the world and was pulling in $120 million per year.

Tzvetkoff was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with laundering $500 million in funds destined for online poker sites. In September 2010, he was released on bail.

Business Insider summarized the situation: “Daniel Tzvetkoff knows the operations of these poker sites inside and out. It was knowledge of the financial industry that allowed them to operate. He’s the one man positioned to give the U.S. Attorneys everything they needed to take down their businesses. And it looks like that’s exactly what he did, cooperating with the authorities to avoid his own lengthy jail sentence.” A trial was set for June of this year.

As if all of this weren’t enough, it appears as if PokerStars and Full Tilt could have potentially “tipped off the FBI that [Tzvetkoff]was going to be traveling to the United States last year,” according to Business Insider. “They ratted him out … and he turned the tables. No honor among thieves.”

Since the indictments on April 15th, PokerStars stopped taking U.S. players and shifted its operations to PokerStars.eu. Full Tilt Poker also vacated the U.S. market and pushed its action over to FullTiltPoker.co.uk. UB.com and Absolute Poker have both opened .eu sites and allow U.S. action, but players from the United States are not able to deposit, withdraw, or transfer funds.

According to PokerScout.com, PokerStars’ cash game action has dipped by 25%, while Full Tilt’s has slid by 48%. Meanwhile, the CEREUS Network has seen its ring game traffic slip by 39%.

Stay tuned to PocketFives.com for the latest.