One of Neteller’s founders has pleaded guilty to criminal conspiracy.

Forty-seven year old Stephen Lawrence, the co-founder of the Manx-based e-wallet company, was arrested in January as he visited the United States.

He was accused of allowing Americans to gamble over the internet and so faced charges of racketeering.

On Friday, he appeared before a Manhattan federal judge and said he had come to understand providing payment services to online gambling Web sites serving US customers was wrong.

Lawrence also agreed to help US law enforcement and assume partial responsibility for $100 million the government says people who used Neteller must repay.

Another Neteller co-founder, Canadian John David Lefebvre, has yet to appear in court after his arrest.