Subject:Poker: DOJ’s Civil Complaint Amended, Alleges FTP Stole Player Funds

[Tengil]

Now this is interesting.

"The US Department of Justice has amended its Black Friday civil complain to include discussion of alleged “Full Tilt Poker’s and the FTP insider defendants’ theft of player funds.” The new complaint adds three new defendants, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst. It also alleges that these new defendents together with Ray Bitar committed money laundering, and asks for penalties ranging from $12M for Furst to $42M for Lederer".

And much more

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More links

Forbes: Feds Call Full Tilt Poker A Massive Ponzi Scheme

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WSJ: U.S. Alleges Full Tilt Poker Was Ponzi Scheme

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Edit: Actually Ponzi Scheme is not a correct term for FTP

 

[tat00]

wow DOJ has the balls to go after JESUS lol

 

[Tengil]

The amended complaint can be viewed here for example if you dont want to go trough S

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Starts on page 63.

Quite a facepalm that they have listed Pocket Kings (FTP) accounts as belonging to AP

Durrr has also answered quite a lot of questions at 2+2, also got a lot of heat (mostly by donks). Said he would do some interviews shortly.

 

[jstrike]

Oh, I'd say Ponzi is exactly the right word for it...a ponzi is anything where investors are paid back out of incoming investment. For a poker site to not hold the full cash value of its players' funds in some kind of assets is definitely a ponzi scheme. For them to then take money out of the till and claim it as earnings is morally repugnant, criminal and absurd.

This isn't to say that there aren't some instances where future profits can be projected and used as a basis for (wise) investment of a safe percentage of capital, but those would still be assets held by the company that could be liquidated in case of an emergency. Such as the sudden shutting-down of the company's largest poker market or the revocation of their license...

I don't know, but I been told... in a perfectly functioning poker site you might actually end up holding around 70% of initial deposits. Frankly I'm not sure how that works, since our site's only given money away on poker and never seen a dime out of it. But assuming that's true, it's interesting to look at the numbers:

FTP had $59,579,413 in bank accounts out of $390,695,788 in player funds. That's 15.24%. My guess (and take this for the pure speculation it is) would be that some genius accountant decided to take the 70% they could eventually hope to earn with a near-perfect level of churn, and then did it again the next year.

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[4 of a kind]

Not sure why most don't realize that online casinos have the same freedom to do whatever they damn well please, whenever they damn well feel like it. If it wasn't for the U.S. Department of Justice exposing this, all these people involved including the scumbag pros that were named would still be loading their bank accounts.

Personally I hope most of you affiliates that promote and feed the players to these sharks will start to stand up for what needs to be done "Regulation" and stop being only concerned about lining your own pockets. For the players that keep standing up for the casinos, wake up and realize they to can do shit like this with the blink of an eye, and no one is going to stop them.



This quote from one of those articles resonates well with my beliefs:


If poker sites were legal and regulated, we could trust the regulator — an arm of the US government — to protect gamblers’ funds. Casinos are strictly regulated; online poker sites should be as well. Instead, they became international fugitives,

 

[jstrike]

4 of a kind, I agree with a lot of what you wrote, but the problem is that money corrupts. If J.C. Himself was in charge of regulating online gaming, he'd have a hard time stopping Judas from robbing Luke. Especially if Judas was a member of the House of Representatives. You give anybody the power to regulate gaming worldwide, or nationwide, and you get what you got in the US, which is State Gaming in the form of lotteries, plus a handful of very powerful interests that can buy senators and congressmen to make sure they're the only ones who have a lock on the market, then buy out whoever they need in the regional gaming commissions and destroy anybody that tries to compete with them. Once the field's clear, the bullies get away with murder. When was the last time you saw the DOJ release the sum total on Harrah's bank accounts, or Wynn's or Bally's? Don't forget, those accounts are in the States, where DOJ actually has territorial jurisdiction.

FTP was licensed. In Alderney, Kahnawake and more interestingly in France, which just introduced what was billed as an extremely tough auditing and licensing regime, and handed over the keys to ARJEL which is essentially complicit in all of this. Vegas understood this when they stood pat on UIGEA and let the online companies go up in flames, just so they could have a clean playing field once the online market was "regulated." In this case, "regulated" means they own it, and regulation means creating a crooked BS state-run bureaucracy that they control, that screws over anyone who doesn't pay under the table.

It's true that without DOJ this case might not've been cracked for awhile to come, but it surely would've been noticed sooner or later, and I'm sure a few heads will roll over this one in their licensing jurisdictions. The point is, they were supposedly regulated by what were supposedly independent and fair jurisdictions, and this just proves regulation ain't worth squat without public disclosure. There's no reason to think that US congressmen are gonna act any better than anyone else who's handed a suitcase of cash and told to shut up.

The only solution or way out of this, that I see, is for governments to get out and for crowd-sourced bodies (like the CM board) to become independent auditors. It doesn't take the force of law to shut down a crooked casino, all it takes is public outrage. The point I agree with most is that players shouldn't boost casinos. They need to demand disclosure, demand to see the books. I'm sure I'm gonna get heat for saying that, but frankly the only people in the industry who benefit from government regulation are the crooks anyway. So if the industry doesn't regulate itself, it's curtains for the ones who are actually honest, because by definition if you're honest, you don't pay bribes to drive your competition out of business.

 

[jetset]

This new twist in the evolving Full Tilt story is certainly getting massive media coverage following its first exposure yesterday, and I guess that depending on your half full or half empty tendencies it could be viewed as added momentum for the legalisation of online poker, or an indication that it should continue to be classed by governments as "undesirable".

IMO it will also be seen as another blow against the licensing jurisdictions that were supposedly overseeing this operation, and in particular the lack of an enforced ring-fencing requirement on player funds.

Alderney is taking a beating on this one, and their insistence on the current hearing remaining "in camera" is not helping it.

Edited to add that just before this story broke, the AGA came out in strong support for legalised online poker in a lengthy statement and a Youtube vid, calling on Congress to pass the necessary legislation.

 

[jetset]

Looking at the wider picture here, and FTP's business conduct notwithstanding, recent developments in the US do tend to create the impression that the competition is being swept out of the way for a cosy arrangement in which online poker will be legalised and packaged out to the "right" sort of probably American companies. That's my growing perception.

 

[maxd]

... a cosy arrangement in which online poker will be legalised and packaged out to the "right" sort of probably American companies.

That would be the other shoe dropping re: the UIGEA, IMO.

 

[pokeraddict]

The one thing I keep trying to dig up is what went on with AGCC the last 2 days? Weren't they having the FTP hearings? Is anyone else suspicious about the timing of the amended indictment?

I like how the complaint mentions 2+2 as "Poker Forum" and mentions FTPDoug's threads and discussions. It seems every poker scandal always finds a way to involve 2+2.

 

[Nifty29]

The one thing I keep trying to dig up is what went on with AGCC the last 2 days? Weren't they having the FTP hearings? Is anyone else suspicious about the timing of the amended indictment?

I like how the complaint mentions 2+2 as "Poker Forum" and mentions FTPDoug's threads and discussions. It seems every poker scandal always finds a way to involve 2+2.

Why do you think that is?

 

[Tengil]

Oh, I'd say Ponzi is exactly the right word for it...a ponzi is anything where investors are paid back out of incoming investment. For a poker site to not hold the full cash value of its players' funds in some kind of assets is definitely a ponzi scheme. For them to then take money out of the till and claim it as earnings is morally repugnant, criminal and absurd.

This isn't to say that there aren't some instances where future profits can be projected and used as a basis for (wise) investment of a safe percentage of capital, but those would still be assets held by the company that could be liquidated in case of an emergency. Such as the sudden shutting-down of the company's largest poker market or the revocation of their license...

I don't know, but I been told... in a perfectly functioning poker site you might actually end up holding around 70% of initial deposits. Frankly I'm not sure how that works, since our site's only given money away on poker and never seen a dime out of it. But assuming that's true, it's interesting to look at the numbers:

FTP had $59,579,413 in bank accounts out of $390,695,788 in player funds. That's 15.24%. My guess (and take this for the pure speculation it is) would be that some genius accountant decided to take the 70% they could eventually hope to earn with a near-perfect level of churn, and then did it again the next year.

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Ponzi scheme is still not the right word. Altough if DOJ would consider it a Ponzi then at least US players are in a better position. Anyone is free to call FTP a Ponzi Scheme if they like but they are wrong, altough its really nothing to debate about.

A hold of 70% would only count as revenue and that is the best case scenario. Most euro skins can be happy if they end up holding 10% of the initial deposits.

Party for example had a profit margin of ~17% for poker in 2010. FTP was speculated to have 20% (100M P and 500M R) and PS 36%(500m P and 1400M R) by Forbes in 2009. And yes there is nothing to indicate that FTP wasnt a profitable company pre 2010.

Edit: S article updated a few times. Also including SDNYs press statement:

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2nd edit: some of the statements made by Preet Bharara are almost ludicrous and some of the amounts mentioned clearly doesnt add up.

 

[jetset]

The one thing I keep trying to dig up is what went on with AGCC the last 2 days? Weren't they having the FTP hearings? Is anyone else suspicious about the timing of the amended indictment?

I like how the complaint mentions 2+2 as "Poker Forum" and mentions FTPDoug's threads and discussions. It seems every poker scandal always finds a way to involve 2+2.

The AGCC commissioners have become their own worst enemy with this secretive approach just lately - even their own AGCC director, Andre Wilsenach, has reservations about the manner in which this hearing is being handled.

The resumed confidential hearing appears to be headed into a third day today (Wednesday) without any sort of communique being issued - that is appalling imo, and does Alderney little credit.

I'll bet these new revelations have them going into a huddle And the timing of the Justice amendment is certainly suspicious imo.

I can understand why twoplustwo gets mentioned so often - it's such a widely used forum, full of interesting news and views from the poker world and usually picks up on all the issues.

 

[footdr]

I wouldn't consider it a ponzi scheme unless they were paying players only with players deposits that were incoming as their bank account was in the red or zero otherwise. Then eventually, they would have ran out of money to pay winnings. Which is what according to the DOJ they must have done as they only had X in their bank account and yet owed far more to winners. (hope I have that right, going from memory of what I heard on news yesterday).

Who know how long it was going on but it might be a blessing to those that would have continued to deposit that they were caught. Sounds as if they were running a scam.

 

[Tengil]

I guess everyone interested already knows this: French Investors Consider Purchasing FTP

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Saw the rumour evolve at 2+2 but was tired and went to sleep and part of me expected it to be a huge level and wake up to negative news.

The potential investor has signed a Letter of Intent (that itself doesnt mean that much) etc. Much more information and drama that Im too tired to post, because as I said, those that are interested knows or will get the info themself.

 

[jetset]

The Wall Street Journal, quoting an unidentified source, says that investment bankers Seaport Group gave evidence to the AGCC enquiry this week that there were three investors in prospect. That would appear to confirm the Subject Poker story.

Apparently Full Tilt is asking for another 30 days to seal a deal.

 

[Tengil]

The Wall Street Journal, quoting an unidentified source, says that investment bankers Seaport Group gave evidence to the AGCC enquiry this week that there were three investors in prospect. That would appear to confirm the Subject Poker story.

Apparently Full Tilt is asking for another 30 days to seal a deal.

According to Pocketfives two of those dropped out on Tuesday.

"On Tuesday, Full Tilt reportedly lost at least two investors as a result of receiving the designation of a Ponzi scheme by the U.S. Department of Justice's Preet Bharara"

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Theres so much new information dropping in, much of it just rumours, that its hard to keep up.

 

[Tengil]

The potential investor/buyer is rumoured to be Laurent Tapie, son of Bernard Tapie. Sounds quite plausible.

 

[jetset]

Update. Licence revoked.

FULL TILT POKER LICENCE REVOKED (Update)

Beleaguered online poker operator's life just got harder

After days of silence and what appeared to be an extended in-camera hearing, the Alderney Gaming Control Commission has revoked the licensing on which Full Tilt Poker operated, leaving the beleaguered online poker operator with a secondary Kahnawake licence (see previous InfoPowa reports) and a problem for a prospective investor, who was on record as saying that retention of the AGCC licence was critical to any deal.

The shock news came in a statement from the Commission, which said:

"AGCC Commissioners, sitting as a tribunal, have today revoked the licences of Vantage Limited, Filco Limited and Oxalic Limited, trading as Full Tilt Poker (FTP), with immediate effect. This follows the earlier suspension of the licences on 29th June 2011.

"At a hearing held in London over six days, it emerged that FTP had fundamentally misled AGCC about their operational integrity by continuously reporting as liquid funds balances that had been covertly seized or restrained by US authorities, or that were otherwise not actually available to the operator.

“Serious breaches of AGCC regulations include false reporting, unauthorised provision of credit, and failure to report material events.

"At the commencement of these proceedings on 26th July, AGCC made clear its preference to hold the hearing in public, to the benefit of players and media alike. However, the tribunal was persuaded that the hearing should be held in camera on the basis of claims by FTP that this would maximise the chance of a commercial rescue of the business for the benefit of players. For this reason an adjournment of 54 days was allowed.

"It is important to note that the revocation of FTP’s licences does not, as has been suggested, prevent a reactivation of the business under new ownership and management. Unresolved claims by players against FTP become a matter for the police and civil authorities. Now that FTP’s licences have been revoked, AGCC no longer has jurisdiction over these companies.

"The licence of Orinic Limited, a recently added geographic sub-division of the FTP poker room, remains suspended.

"The determination notice containing the decision of the Commissioners and reasons for it is available at http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/userfiles/file/Determination%20Notice%20290911.pdf"

The statement is signed off by AGCC executive director André Wilsenach.

 

[Tengil]

Was just about to come and post that. The determination notice can be read here:

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Now what interesting is this statement by Jefff Ifrah a few days ago:
"The investors are totally committed to doing this- we've met with them and seen the funds. Their primary concern right now is the AGCC's decision on Full Tilt's license. The investor's position is that if Alderney revokes the license, they won't go through with the deal because it makes things too difficult."

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It will be interesting to see what this quote from AGCC will mean in the end"It is important to note that the revocation of FTP’s licences does not, as has been suggested, prevent a reactivation of the business under new ownership and management. Unresolved claims by players against FTP become a matter for the police and civil authorities. Now that FTP’s licences have been revoked, AGCC no longer has jurisdiction over these companies.

The question being how fast. If its months then there will be no deal. The letter of intent expires tomorrow. How ironic if there would have been a deal but AGCCs actions would have caused it to fail. Read especially the point 68 in the Determination Notice. Somehow saving their face seems to be of bigger importance than the fate of the players.

And a new statement by DoJ:

At this time, this Office, together with the FBI and other agencies, is attempting to trace, secure and forfeit as much as possible of the funds derived from operation of the fraud committed by Full Tilt Poker and its board members that is alleged in the amended complaint. The Office is also attempting to obtain and examine the books and records of Full Tilt Poker. Many of those books and records are kept overseas. The return of forfeited funds to victims of the alleged fraud may be possible, but will depend on several factors, including the successful conclusion of the litigation, the amount of funds seized and ordered forfeited by the court, and compliance with other procedures the Department of Justice may eventually establish regarding return of forfeited funds to victims who lost money as a result of the alleged fraudulent conduct.

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Edit: An interesting point from the Determination notice, part/point 23. Document JS21(I) illustrates the individual seizures made by the Department of Justice during the period 28th June 2007 to 20th June 2011, which amount to a cumulative total of approximately $331 million US Dollars.


2nd edit: A statement by FTP

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[jetset]

Update - FTP back in Jan. 2010?

FULL TILT POKER BACK BY JANUARY 2012?

French buyer believes it may be possible

Hard on the heels of the announcement that France's Groupe Bernard Tapie has conditionally agreed to buy Full Tilt Poker, Laurent Tapie, md of the company and son of the owner, was interviewed by the publication iGaming France Friday.

Although he generally adhered to the formal public statement announcing the deal, Tapie did reveal that he hoped to have FTP up and running again - presumably under new management - by January 2012.

Tapie jnr emphasised in the interview that his company had the skills and financial clout to turn the troubled online poker operator around, noting that it would not have become involved if it did not strongly believe in FTP’s future potential.

He reiterated that Groupe Bernard Tapie had demonstrated that it had the necessary funds to repay FTP's debt, and meet its obligations in terms of monies owed to players. He additionally revealed that his company intends to keep the Full Tilt Poker brand alive after the recent tarnishing has been addressed.

“The brand is not in question, it’s a well-known brand and the technology is widely recognised as being possibly the best in the industry,” Tapie told iGaming France. "The management of the company is being questioned and it will be changed should the takeover be concluded.

"I believe we have the tools necessary to once again make the site one of the leaders in the online poker sector.”

Tapie appeared to be under no illusions regarding the tough path ahead, referring to the negotiations that will be required with the US Department of Justice, which has seized hundreds of millions of Full Tilt dollars in the process of taking the company down this year. However, he appeared to be optimistic and motivated to make Full Tilt Poker work again.

"We want to find ways where we don’t have to put in all the money, and will be talking to the US Department of Justice next week," he revealed.

What Tapie did not disclose is the consideration his company will have to pay for Full Tilt, which when added to the company's debts and other obligations is likely to be very substantial.

As previously reported in InfoPowa bulletins, Groupe Bernard Tapie has impressive experience in taking over, and turning around, troubled businesses.

In related news, there are reports that the current CEO of Full Tilt Poker, Ray Bitar, has added to the blizzard of legal paperwork swirling around his company with an application to fight the Department of Justice's seizure warrants on various bank accounts with which he is associated (see previous InfoPowa reports).

The application is apparently being made under the Federal Rules for Civil Procedure; Admiralty and Maritime Claims, which covers procedures related to "commercial activities that are land based or occur wholly on land, that are maritime in character."

The thrust of Bitar's application appears to be that "the assets subject to forfeiture are neither proceeds nor instrumentalities of any crimes in any jurisdiction in the United States or elsewhere" and that he should be permitted to challenge the forfeiture and the DoJ allegations surrounding it.

EDIT: Oops - typo in title - could one of the mods please change that to 2012?

 

[SlotsLover]

US Gov has most of the money

Besides the 330M that the DOJ claims they have frozen, the gov't has (the IRS) all the money paid in taxes by the principals in the case (and other owners--I can't believe they didn't pay tax as this would have been one of the few ways they could get in trouble if they were not shut down).

Add these funds together and US gov't can make all the players (not just US) whole. Let's call on the US Gov't to do the right thing for the players.

Speaking of doing the right thing with frozen money, does anyone know what has happened to the Ewallet money? I have a few k over there that has been gone for almost a year. Thanks DOJ!

 

[silcnlayc]

Indicted Banker and Payment Processor Fight Federal Crackdown On Online Poker With Po


Indicted Banker and Payment Processor Fight Federal Crackdown On Online Poker With Powerful Legal Papers

Interesting article in Forbes....The Poker Players Alliance sent me there...(they get credit for the find)



A payment processor and a banker, who were indicted by federal prosecutors in April as part of a sweeping crackdown on the online poker industry in the U.S., have filed strongly-worded legal papers to fight the government’s charges, arguing online poker businesses like PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker were not gambling businesses. continued.....

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.

 

[Tengil]

According to Subjectoker Groupe Bernand Tapie and DOJ have come to an agreement.
The "only" thing needed for the sale to go trough is FTPs shareholders agreement.

Full article:

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The DoJ will reimburse US players and settle the civil litigation against FTP while GBT will take care of the ROW players. Edit: this is still quite unclear especially the DoJ part

One time!

 

[jetset]

Update

GROUPE BERNARD TAPIE CONFIRMS FULL TILT DEAL WITH DOJ (Update)

Good news at last for Full Tilt players

Following wide-spread reportage this week on an e-mail from Full Tilt’s Ray Bitar addressed to Tiltware shareholders (see previous report), Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) has confirmed that it has reached an agreement in principle with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that will lead to the reimbursement of Full Tilt Poker players and clear the way for the group to finalise the acquisition of Full Tilt.

In an interview with iGaming France today (Wednesday), Laurent Tapie revealed that a final agreement between the company and the US Department of Justice will be drafted by this week's end and should be signed in the next 15 days.

Under the proposed terms of the deal, Groupe Bernard Tapie has undertaken to reimburse all non-U.S. Full Tilt customers while U.S. customers will be reimbursed by the DOJ.

Tapie declined to offer further details on the mechanism the group has developed in arranging reimbursements or the amounts involved in paying back players but ended the interview by confirming: "The payment terms are defined. We will draft an agreement by the end of the week and should sign it within the next 15 days, and we will issue a statement shortly after that will provide more information."

 

[Mousey]

U.S. customers will be reimbursed by the DOJ

??? Will this not set some sort of legal precedent? I mean... why doesn't the DOJ pay back ALL players' funds they've seized? bunch of crooks...

Oh, and here's hoping all this holds together and FT players finally get their funds.

 

[pokeraddict]

??? Will this not set some sort of legal precedent? I mean... why doesn't the DOJ pay back ALL players' funds they've seized? bunch of crooks...

Oh, and here's hoping all this holds together and FT players finally get their funds.

The Groupe will also be paying the DOJ a "fee" which was undisclosed. I have a feeling that "fee" (bribe, fine w/e) is a good portion of that payback.

 

[SlotsLover]

EwalletXpress and QT too?

not to derail the thread, but if DOJ is paying back for Full Tilt, what about the money from EXW and QT? Anyone hear anything about that?

I also find that DoJ is responsible for paying US FTP players a bit odd and we believe it when I see it.

 

[jetset]

Update

GROUPE BERNARD TAPIE OPTIMISTIC ON FULL TILT POKER SETTLEMENT (Update)

Company lawyer says current agreement will resolve all outstanding issues

Behnam Dayanim, a lawyer who represents French businessman Laurent Tapie of the investment group, Groupe Bernard Tapie, told the Wall Street Journal Thursday that his client and the US Department of Justice were close to settling a civil case filed by the Justice Department, clearing the way for the French group to take over Full Tilt Poker.

The report confirms an interview with iGaming France earlier this week in which a GBT spokesman confirmed that negotiations were going well.

Dayanim told the WSJ: "We have an oral agreement that is in the process of being reduced to writing, and expect to resolve all outstanding issues."

The Department of Justice declined to comment, whilst Barry Boss, an attorney for Full Tilt, said, "We have made significant progress towards a settlement but there are still issues to be resolved."

The Justice Department's $3 billion civil suit, a billion of which is targeted on Full Tilt and associated companies, is a major impediment to GBT's acquisition of Full Tilt Poker, an event that could see players being paid and the once-great online poker site resuming business outside the United States.

Full Tilt was disastrously impacted by DoJ actions against e-cash processors and the unsealing of indictments naming its executives, along with those of Pokerstars and Absolute Poker back in April this year.

While PokerStars paid its players despite the debacle, Full Tilt at the time of the crackdown was cash-strapped and unable to pay back the $150 million it held in accounts of its U.S. players. Two months later its licence was pulled by the Alderney jurisdiction, leaving FTP poker players world-wide unable to access their money, which the government says amounts to some $300 million.

The US government's latest amendment to the massive civil suit it has launched against Full Tilt claims that the owners violated the trust of players and defrauded them while taking $444 million in payments for themselves.

Attorneys for the company and the owners have denied it constituted a "Ponzi scheme," as a U.S. attorney accused, although there has been an acknowledgement that the company may have been "mismanaged."

Insiders in the negotiations have apparently confirmed to the Journal that the present agreement is that GBT will pay an amount of money to the Justice Department to resolve the civil dispute, and then pay those players based outside of the U.S. The quantum of such a settlement has not been disclosed yet.

"If the current plans are approved by both parties, U.S. players seeking their funds would likely have to file claims to the Justice Department. The company has said Justice seized players' funds of $115 million from third-party payment processors affiliated with Full Tilt," the Wall Street Journal reports.

And of course Full Tilt shareholders would have to approve the sale of the company and the DoJ deal.

The WSJ observes that the fates of the individuals named in the DoJ criminal indictment is a separate issue in which the outcome remains uncertain.

 

[vinylweatherman]

??? Will this not set some sort of legal precedent? I mean... why doesn't the DOJ pay back ALL players' funds they've seized? bunch of crooks...

Oh, and here's hoping all this holds together and FT players finally get their funds.

I am sure US players hope so.

This seems to go against the responces received in the recent past when some players contacted the DoJ over lost funds due to other seizures, with one more or less being told "consider yourselves lucky - we could have gone after you, your house, your car.........".

The difference here seems to be that the new investors engaged with the DoJ in order to reach a settlement, whereas QT simply killed off it's US facing subsidiary, and refused to reimburse players who's money had been seized, and would only pay out the rest to an offshore Euro denominated bank account outside of the DoJ's reach. Since QT have refused to negotiate a settlement, the DoJ isn't going to budge on the issue of refunding money to accountholders that it seized.

EWX has been even more secretive, although there is a rumour that secret negotiations are taking place that could result in players seeing their money, however recent uses of the EWX domain bring this into question, and tend to support the "they did a runner" theory.

It hasn't happened yet, so until it does, no legal precedent can be set.

Once done, pressure can be applied for the return of other seized monies that can be shown to belong to players, rather than the operators. This could put the DoJ in a difficult position, as it has been giving away part of this seized cash.

 

[jetset]

The deal is done....hopefully

GROUPE BERNARD TAPIE DEAL WITH U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ON FULL TILT POKER?

Embargoed press releases and deleted website entries create confusion late Thursday

The latest episode in the Full Tilt Poker saga had media reporters on the hop late Thursday afternoon in the United States as news broke that the prospective buyers of the embattled online poker provider, Groupe Bernard Tapie, had reached agreement on the sale with the US Department of Justice.

The news, issued on an embargoed release, was published prematurely by CNN and Yahoo Finance, among others, but was subsequently taken down due to the embargo.

Compounding the confusion, a suspicious press release apparently published Wednesday surfaced which said the deal was off.

The Wall Street Journal finally nailed the story down late Thursday, reporting that GBT's legal representative had confirmed that the French investor had reached an agreement with the Department of Justice that could lead to the acquisition of Full Tilt Poker for $80 million, giving GBT an opportunity to sort out the mess and operate Full Tilt's non-US business.

The WSJ explained that the agreement with the DoJ could free up seized funds for payment to non-US players, whilst US players would apply to the DoJ to recover their (seized) winnings and credit balances.

This information is consistent with "leaked" information that appeared in various online poker publications in recent weeks, quoting various lawyers acting for the parties involved in the GBT-Full Tilt-Department of Justice talks.

According to the Yahoo Finance report, the United States Department of Justice brokered a deal in which FTP will forfeit its assets to the U.S. government, which will then sell those assets to Groupe Bernard Tapie.

GBT will be responsible for paying out non-US players, and the Department of Justice will pay - on application - US players; an amount that has been estimated at $150 million.

It appears that the deal includes an agreement by the DoJ to dismiss the civil forfeiture proceedings against FTP, although it will not reverse the individual criminal proceedings against individuals named in the Black Friday indictments like Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Ray Bitar (see previous InfoPowa reports).

Early reports indicated that the agreement was also conditional on a ban on current FTP directors holding shares in the company once it has been acquired by GBT.

The deal will have to be approved by Full Tilt Poker shareholders, according to Benham Dayanim, a legal representative for Groupe Bernard Tapie.

One of the most voluble lawyers in the FTP affair, Jeff Ifrah, reportedly told Poker News:

"All [the embargo] means is that the reporter was not supposed to release it like she did, that’s the embargo, but the agreement itself is signed.

“You have to understand what it is, this is an agreement between Tapie and the government that, if the government obtains the assets of FTP, Tapie will buy them, and Tapie will pay back the world players, and the government will establish a fund to pay back the U.S. players.

"There is a signed agreement between the government and Tapie that dictates what the terms will be for the sale of the assets, but the government doesn’t have the assets yet, so they still need to obtain them . . . It’s not clear what has to happen for the government to obtain those assets."

Full Tilt Poker's chief exec, Ray Bitar, later appeared to confirm the deal in a statement to the information website PokerStrategy, which said: “I am extremely pleased with the efforts of the Department of Justice, and the Groupe Bernard Tapie corporation, and appreciate their continued dedication in working towards a mutually beneficial agreement that will facilitate repayment of the players."

Contacted by Poker News, the DoJ declined to comment.

 

[vinylweatherman]

Didn't the DoJ seize all the "assets"

FTP folded because after the seizure, they had no assets with which to carry on operating even the non-US part of the business. The only remaining asset therefore is the brand itself, which the company needs to sign over to the DoJ, who will then sell it to the new owners.

This does at least mean that those responsible for the mess (other than the DoJ of course) will not be lining their own pockets with the proceeds from the sale, and will be banned from any involvement in the new company.

This also comes pretty close to an admission on the DoJ's part that they seized PLAYERS' funds, rather than "company assets".

If players can openly apply for the return of FTP funds through the DoJ, then surely they can use the same procedure to openly apply for QT and EWX funds that the DoJ also hold.

 

[Mousey]

Didn't the DoJ seize all the "assets"

FTP folded because after the seizure, they had no assets with which to carry on operating even the non-US part of the business. The only remaining asset therefore is the brand itself, which the company needs to sign over to the DoJ, who will then sell it to the new owners.

This does at least mean that those responsible for the mess (other than the DoJ of course) will not be lining their own pockets with the proceeds from the sale, and will be banned from any involvement in the new company.

This also comes pretty close to an admission on the DoJ's part that they seized PLAYERS' funds, rather than "company assets".

If players can openly apply for the return of FTP funds through the DoJ, then surely they can use the same procedure to openly apply for QT and EWX funds that the DoJ also hold.

GBT will be responsible for paying out non-US players, and the Department of Justice will pay - on application - US players; an amount that has been estimated at $150 million.

That is precisely what I was thinking Vinyl... this is truly going to be 'interesting'.... Anyone familiar with the term 'goat rope'? ....

:eat: