Full Tilt Poker Customers Would Likely Get Deposits Back Should Deal Go Through
Customers of Full Tilt Poker owed monies since April 15 wait with baited breath as a reported settlement has taken place between the US Justice Department and Groupe Bernard Tapie, the entity looking to acquire Full Tilt Poker. On June 29 the company had its license to operate pulled after it failed to prove the business had sufficient funds on hand to pay players. Two executives of the company were indicted on April 15, charged with money laundering and bank fraud. Three other stakeholders in FTP were accused by the US Government of running an elaborate ponzi scheme. It is interesting to note that the current agreement stipulates that no further action will be taken against other Full Tilt Poker shareholders not yet named in a complaint.
Lawyers who drafted the agreement have stressed that Full Tilt Poker and Groupe Bernard Tapie would “make whole” those players living in the United States.
To “Make Whole” is defined as “to pay or award damages sufficient to put the party who was damaged back into the position he/she would have been without the fault of another.”
The implication here is that customers would be receiving what they put into their accounts initially minus any awards that may have been reaped at the time of the US Government seizures.
Groupe Bernard Tapie in the past has suggested that customers could be paid back by taking a stake in the reincarnated company, something US players would be unable to do under the current legal environment.
From the Wall Street Journal:
The deal allows for some money in bank accounts associated with Full Tilt that were seized by the U.S. government to be given to the investment group, according to the agreement letter. Accounting for that, the amount spent by Groupe Bernard Tapie for the assets would actually be around $40 million, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.
The deal will require Full Tilt's current owners reaching a settlement of a civil lawsuit brought by the Justice Department against the company and forfeiting the company to the government, the agreement states. Groupe Bernard Tapie would then buy the company's assets from the government, and the government could use those funds to pay back players owed money by the company. Full Tilt has denied the civil suit's allegations.
History has not always been kind to those seeking payment from offshore gambling companies that have either been shuttered by the US Government or closed down completely due to insolvency.
In 2006, BetOnSports, at the time the largest offshore sportsbook catering to North America in terms of combined Web and call center customer volume, was forced to shut down after the US Justice Department indicted nearly 12 principals of the company on charges of money laundering and tax evasion. Five years later, affected players – if they were lucky – received 3 to 5 cents on the dollar.
Before there were online poker rooms, there were small poorly funded offshore sportsbooks that struggled following the NFL season. Competing companies would often step in to assist customers by offering them so-called “bailout deals”. These required a customer to wager up to 20 times the amount owed. Ultimately, the vast majority of these customers would end up losing all their funds long before coming remotely close to reaching such a lofty requirement.
Alas there is hope a la Neteller, the online gambling payment transfer company that had its funds seized by US Feds in January of 2007.
While it took several months, a settlement resulted in full payment back to affected customers. Neteller continues to operate outside the United States today, its reputation still intact.
One thing we can almost certainly guarantee, the process for customers to obtain their refunds will be a lengthy one. Patience is a virtue and none of this is happening overnight.
Attorney for Full Tilt Poker Jeff Ifrah told PokerNews.com: “There is a signed agreement between the government and Tapie that dictates what the terms will be for the sale of the assets, but the government doesn’t have the assets yet, so they still need to obtain them… It’s not clear what has to happen for the government to obtain those assets … For now, this is a pretty historic agreement in many ways, and it’s going to lay the groundwork for a final agreement between Tapie and the company, which will ultimately result in those assets, presumably, being voluntarily forfeited to the government.”
- Chris Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
