Posted September 28, 2010 at 3:57 p.m.

http://www.marconews.com/news/2010/sep/28/naples-man-launder-online-poker-internet-gambling/

NAPLES — A Naples man who was helping federal authorities investigate a multi-million money laundering Internet Poker gambling operation has been tossed back in jail because his estranged wife feared he’d flee the country.

Jennifer Sherman, 28, who married Michael Olaf Schütt in January after knowing the German less than a year, “indicated she was in fear, was afraid her husband was going to flee, and wished to be removed from the defendant’s bond,” federal court records say.

Schütt, 28, was free on $100,000 unsecured bond, which Sherman was responsible for paying if he fled.

At a hearing Friday in Fort Myers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Yolande Viacava asked the judge to detain him pending sentencing or modify his bond, while defense attorney James Felman of Tampa conceded Schütt’s marriage has “suffered a fatal parting of the ways,” but asked to let him remain free on bond and cited his “substantial and exemplary” assistance to federal investigators.

Noting he’d gone to Germany before, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheri Polster Chappell ordered Schütt held in the Lee County jail.

“The defendant has no employment ties, no familiar ties, is not a U.S. citizen and sought information to obtain a pilot’s license,” Chappell wrote in her ruling.

Today, authorities moved his December sentencing to Nov. 8. Schütt’s attorney declined comment and Sherman couldn’t be reached.

Schütt, who also is known as Schüett and Olaf Brand, pleaded guilty in March to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. He’d been charged with money laundering, but pleaded to a lesser charge due to his cooperation.

He faces up to five years in a federal prison, while his defense team is seeking probation.

U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Schütt in February after bank employees statewide got suspicious when millions of dollars went through his bank accounts and customers were cashing checks they said were Internet Poker gambling winnings, court documents say.

FedEx employees also reported 51 packages were being mailed daily from a home he’d been living at on Chesapeake Avenue.

Feds seized $2.47 million from his numerous bank accounts, $10,000 cash found in his home, cars and jewelry.

Records say overseas wire transfers went into Schütt’s accounts and he obtained large numbers of cashier’s checks, wrote business checks and sent wire transfers to poker customers in the United States or Canada.

Schütt’s case here is hotly watched and a website, usag24-betrug.com, details his history, including a German conviction involving bogus U.S. investments when he owned Royal Capital Management.