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Feds Call Full Tilt Poker A Massive Ponzi Scheme

Posted by David, Archer fan (aka David) Sep 20 '11, 09:37

Manhattan�s U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara claimed on Tuesday that Full Tilt Poker and its board of directors operated the company �as a massive Ponzi scheme against its own players.�

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said on Tuesday they were filing legal papers as part of a civil money laundering complaint that alleged Full Tilt Poker improperly used funds of online poker players to pay members of its board of directors, including famous poker players Howard Lederer and Christopher �Jesus� Ferguson, $440 million since April 2007.

Bharara announced the filing of a motion to amend the forfeiture and civil money laundering complaint that was unsealed in April, alleging that Full Tilt and board members Lederer and Ferguson, together with Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar, defrauded poker players by not maintaining funds sufficient to repay players at the same time that Full Tilt led players to believe that their funds on deposit were safe and available for withdrawal at any time.

�Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme,� Bharara said in a statement. �Full Tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited.�

Responses:

And apparently, it's Jesus, Professor and only 2 other Directors...so it'd be really hard to argue they didn't know where the cash was coming from. - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:53
geez, if only they had incorporated as an investment bank they'd simply be getting a bailout....nm - x Sep 20, 09:53 2
- Has anyone ever told you that you can come across as cynical at times? -- nm - David, Archer fan Sep 20, 09:54 1
  - no, this is the first time ever!....nm - x Sep 20, 10:03
???????? Holy crap. -- nm - Strongbad Sep 20, 09:45
Wow. That's....something. (nm) - musubi Sep 20, 09:41
Wow. And that's the end of their poker careers. - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:38 22
- Ferguson is one of the most popular players I've ever seen. I'm blown away by his inclusion. This is Vick-ish. -- nm - David, Archer fan Sep 20, 09:41 21
  - I'm not an avid poker-follower, but I've never read a bad word written about Fergueson in an arena where it's not hard to find bad words thrown about. - musubi Sep 20, 09:43 2
    - I'd include Ivey on this short list. Wow. -- nm - Strongbad Sep 20, 09:46 1
      - Yeah, but Ivey isn't named in the suit, and he bailed on FT relatively early in the investigation. - musubi Sep 20, 09:50
  - It'll be really interesting to see who knew what ... Just how...the hell do you not make enough money raking at a top 3 site? - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:42 17
    - We're going to find this out because they're going to face federal chargers over this, I'm sure. -- nm - David, Archer fan Sep 20, 09:54 4
      - For such a smart guy (Ferguson), this was brazenly stupid in every manner. - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:55 1
        
        That makes it even more stunning. Dude's god a PhD in comp sci, iirc. - musubi Sep 20, 09:59
      - Is this leading to a massive class action suit where players get their money back? -- nm - Strongbad Sep 20, 09:55 1
        
        Well, some portion of it, years down the road. - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:56
    - It's not like their juice (5-10%) was any different than other sites. That's just... strange. -- nm - Strongbad Sep 20, 09:49
    - it's never enough. look at sports stars who switch cities for cash. -- nm - amanda jones Sep 20, 09:44 10
      - That's really a different animal though. The basic math of gambling should be able to self propogate. - musubi Sep 20, 09:46 3
        
        true, yeah. sorry I'm really stupid. -- nm - amanda jones Sep 20, 09:48 2
        
        That's ok, because you have your gorgeous red hair. - musubi Sep 20, 09:51 1
        
        *weeping* - amanda jones Sep 20, 09:54
      - There's a diff between greed and a ponzi scheme though. - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:46 5
        
        You can buy a middling NBA team for that. Where did that money go? -- nm - David, Archer fan Sep 20, 09:52 4
        
        Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of that went to all the poker pro endorsements they had. - musubi Sep 20, 09:55 2
        
        I meant Lederer and Ferguson. Could they have lost $100+ million in real estate? -- nm - David, Archer fan Sep 20, 10:00 1
        
        If they bought tons of Vegas real estate, yeah, I could see it. (nm) - musubi Sep 20, 10:01
        
        Knowing how Ivey plays those guys, probably him at the 4k/8k no-limit table. -- nm - Will Hunting Sep 20, 09:54

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Feds Call Full Tilt Poker A Massive Ponzi Scheme

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