ESI Entertainment to disgorge $9.1 mln-prosecutor

NEW YORK, June 5 (Reuters) - ESI Entertainment Systems ESY.TO, an Internet payment business based in Canada, has agreed to a deferred prosecution pact related to illegal Internet gambling and will disgorge more than $9.1 million in criminal proceeds, U.S. prosecutors said on Thursday.

ESI has admitted to criminal wrongdoing as part of the deferred prosecution agreement, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said in a statement.

Prosecutors said that from 2002 to January 2007, an ESI unit processed more than $2 billion worth of illegal gambling transactions for U.S. customers. (Reporting by Martha Graybow; editing by John Wallace)