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- Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara indicted executives of three online poker rooms in April 2011
- Meeting with President-Elect took place Wednesday afternoon at Trump Tower according to reports
- Bharara did work hard to get most affected poker players paid and was praised Wednesday evening by Senator Elizabeth Warren
- Meeting reportedly has happy ending for U.S. Attorney
President-Elect Donald Trump was scheduled to meet with Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara Wednesday afternoon at Trump Tower in Midtown. It was not immediately clear of the outcome.
In April 2011 Bharara’s office indicted high ranking executives in three of the largest online poker rooms – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker – charging them with money laundering. In the case of Full Tilt Poker, a handful of executives tied to that company were later discovered to be running an elaborate ponzi scheme.
While PokerStars customers based in the US received their funds, Bharara also arranged to have all US customers owed monies by Full Tilt Poker paid back in full following an intensive company audit. The process took up to three years for some players.
As a result of Bharara’s findings, all three online poker sites were forced to exit the US market. Professional poker players tied to the ponzi scheme – Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson – are now viewed as pariahs in the poker world.
Bharara is widely regarded among his peers and has been involved in a number of high profile cases over the years.
Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren, a staunch critic of the incoming President, appearing on CNN Wednesday night praised Trump’s decision to meet with Bharara though she seemed to believe he was being considered for a cabinet position.
The New York Post reported otherwise:
The pow-wow between the two heavy hitters will focus on whether Wall Street- and political corruption-buster Bharara will remain as the Southern District’s top prosecutor.
Late Wednesday evening reports surfaced that Trump had given his blessing to keep Bharara in his current position.
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
