Crazy story, and really long, so make sure you have about 20 minutes before clicking on this 2+2 link:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/29...g-pca-1587268/
Cliffs:
- Non-US citizen has to pass through the US to get back to his home country from Bahamas, after the PCA. He doesn't state his nationality, but I am guessing Canadian.
- US cash reporting requirement threshold is $10k. He decides to give $7k to a friend to carry for him, and carry $8k himself, thus avoiding the reporting threshold. This was dumb, as he claimed in the post that his country doesn't tax gambling winnings. So what was the point of this ruse? No idea.
- He notices a ton of poker players detained in a side room for questioning. His friend is also detained. Like a moron, he spills the beans that he gave his friend money to carry for him. At this point, he is arrested and handed over to Bahamian authorities.
- He and the friend spend the night in an airport jail. They are almost transferred to a rough general jail in Nassau, but he manages to get a poker friend to pay the $6000 bail to get him out.
- He is fined for all of the money he is holding.
- Just as he is about to leave court and go to the airport, an immigration officer grabs his arm when he's 20 feet from the taxicab. He is told that they just have to complete a few things and they can be on their way.
- They get held up at immigration and put back in jail while things are being processed/figured out.
- After getting released, they are told that they can "only be escorted to the airport on Fridays" (what?), and must stay in police custody until that day comes. They are brought to a "dorm" which is described as "not that bad, where you can buy food and stuff".
- The "dorm" turns out to be a refugee camp full of Haitians and others caught trying to sneak into the country. They are also required to give up their phones and passports while in the camp.
- The conditions are squalid, to say the least. Drinking water is not clean. Barely any food is given, and it's terrible. Bathrooms are backed up, and there are literally piles of shit on the ground. Bathrooms are also full of shit water all over the ground. Many people there appear to be sick or infected. There is no medical staff on premises.
- They are finally rescued from the camp after 5 days, thanks to a text message he sent to his mom just minutes before his phone was taken away. His mom got a hold of the embassy and got him released.
- Pokerstars, as usual, washed their hands of the situation, making a brief, insincere phone call to him. While this is not directly Pokerstars' fault, they do a piss poor job at explaining cash-brought-into-US rules, and naive young poker players keep getting targeted like this. Pokerstars should really just move this whole event out of the Bahamas, but they won't because they are entrenched there and it makes a lot of money.
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Originally Posted by The Shrink
