Disgraced Former Full Tilt Poker Head Howard Lederer Files Motion to Dismiss
Attorneys for poker pro and one time part owner of Full Tilt Poker Howard Lederer on Friday filed a Notice of Motion and Motion to Dismiss the Verified Second Amended Complaint with the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York.
The Notice of Motion in part reads:
“Defendant and Claimant Howard Lederer hereby moves the Court to dismiss the $42.5 million in personam claim against Lederer for money laundering, along with the First and Second Claims for Relief in rem.”
The US Government filed an amended civil complaint in an effort to seize homes and automobiles within the United States.
The US Government contends Lederer used his position at Full Tilt Poker to defraud millions from customers as part of a ponzi scheme.
An excerpt from the Motion to Dismiss appears on the Poker News.com website:
“As to Lederer, the allegations of scheming to defraud customers, the centerpiece of the [First Amended Complaint], are gone. The centerpiece of this complaint as it pertains to Lederer is the allegation that FTP—an online poker site operating abroad—was an illegal gambling business under the Illegal Gambling Business Act, ("IGBA"), 18 U.S.C. § 1955, rendering illegal any proceeds Lederer derived from it. Never mind that one month before the government filed the SAC, the Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York held in an exhaustive, 120-page opinion, that poker does not constitute ‘illegal gambling’ under the IGBA.”
It then went on to add: “Because the government has disclaimed any attempt to state a fraud claim against Lederer—either based on alleged bank fraud or a fraud against FTP's own customers — the in personam money laundering claim must be dismissed in its entirety, along with the First and Second in rem claims against Lederer's property.”
The poker community appears to have little sympathy for Lederer as a failed attempt was made at the Aria Poker Room in Las Vegas on Thursday to have the disgraced pro banned from its facility.
- Ace King, Gambling911.com
