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One of three individuals alleged to have taken part in an elaborate “ponzi scheme” while acting as a stakeholder in shuttered Full Tilt Poker believes he will soon have his case settled.
The lawyer representing professional poker pro and Team Full Tilt Poker rep Chris Ferguson tells CardPlayer.com that his client is having “very positive dialog” with the Department of Justice.
Attorney Ian Imrich responded to claims by the website Subject Poker that his client was standing in the way of a French firm, Groupe Bernard Tapie, acquiring Full Tilt Poker in full and repaying all non-US customers.
From CardPlayer.com:
(Imrich said) it (the Subject Poker article) had “numerous erroneous comments and contentions.” The article said that Ferguson is seeking to recover $14.3 million of his money that was used for the company’s “expenses” after Black Friday, and that legal “threats” are being made that could delay the Groupe Bernard Tapie deal.
Full Tilt Poker was shut down in late June after its licensing arm pulled the plug on what was once the second largest Internet poker room. Two executives from FTP were charged with money laundering and bank fraud by US Feds on April 15 of last year. The US Government seized the company’s website and forced Tilt to exit the American market.
On Tuesday January 31, 2012 Gambling911.com broke the news that the Ifrah law firm had won a favorable ruling on behalf of Full Tilt companies and the individual poker professionals who were named as defendants in the first class action suit brought by former U.S. Players in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York last summer. Phil Ivey, Mike Matasow, Patrik Antonius and others were among those named as defendants in the suit.
The lawsuit demanded not only a return of Plaintiff's money under a conversion claim, but it also accused the defendants of racketeering, which would have entitled Plaintiffs to treble damages (or three times the amount owed). Plaintiffs alleged that the that the only reason players suffered losses was due to executives and others associated with Full Tilt companies willfully committed wire and bank fraud and money laundering.
Jeff Ifrah, founder of Ifrah Law hopes the Court's decision will incentivize others to quickly abandon their law suits. "The Court's decision recognizes that relief for the players is being pursued by the United States. There is no compelling basis to open additional doors for private class action lawyers to pursue that very same relief."
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
