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The Alderney Gaming Control Commission (AGCC) has published an independent external review of its investigation leading up to the revocation of Full Tilt Poker’s license last summer.
Full Tilt Poker was named in a US-Government indictment April 15, 2011. Executives from the beleaguered firm were charged with money laundering and bank fraud. Accounts connected to FTP were frozen. The company has not paid customers for nearly a year now.
The independent review, commissioned by the ACGG last December, concentrated on the "appropriateness, timeliness and fairness of the actions undertaken" by the AGCC. Peter Dean, former chairman of the British Gambling Commission, conducted the review.
“Deplorable as the episode covered in this review has been, it is nevertheless an example of regulation working as it should," Dean said in his report. "As soon as plausible evidence of irregularities came to light the regulator acted promptly and proportionately. An investigation was instituted, findings made, a hearing held, judgment delivered and sanctions imposed. Due process was followed.
“This assessment will be of little comfort to the disaffected players who are still denied access to funds owed to them by FTP. The tribunal proceedings in 2011 were adjourned for several weeks to allow time for a rescue package to be negotiated.
"Throughout its dealings with FTP, AGCC relied to a significant extent on FTP’s external lawyers as a channel of communication. They played a prominent role in the arrangements for satisfying AGCC about the credentials of the owners of associated companies; in the bolstering of FTP’s compliance function; and in acting as go-between when, for example, FTP was dilatory in supplying information and AGCC wished to chase it up."
Media reports continue to suggest that the Bernard Tapie Group out of France is expected to complete an acquisition Full Tilt Poker in the coming weeks, however, delays have been persistent for months now.
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
