People news 5 July 2012
A round up of industry moves from the last week (29 June to 5 July 2012).
Ray Bitar surrenders to US authorities
Full Tilt chief executive returns to New York to be arrested by the FBI.
Full Tilt Poker co-founder and former CEO Raymond Bitar has handed himself in to the US authorities in New York, eGaming Review has learned.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed to eGR that Bitar had returned to the US from Ireland, giving himself up to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The TwoPlusTwo poker forum was the first to break the news, with a post purporting to be an internal email sent to Full Tilt staff based in Ireland by Bitar in which he explains that he was to “return to the US to deal with civil and criminal case that are pending against me in New York.” He also all but confirms the stricken brand’s impending acquisition by former rivals PokerStars although Stars have yet to make a statement.
“We have all worked hard over the last 15 months to preserve Full Tilt’s assets and potential in order to provide for the repayment of all players, and that continues to be our top priority. It is as important as ever that we all do everything possible to make that happen and, hopefully our deal with PokerStars will very soon make our goal a reality. My return to the US is part of this process,” the email read.
DoJ unseals superseding indictment against Bitar and Burtnick
The United States government has unsealed a superseding indictmentagainst Full Tilt Poker (FTP) CEO Ray Bitar and head of payments Nelson Burtnick, detailing allegations of defrauding both financial institutions and Full Tilt Poker customers through the miscoding of transactions and lies about segregated player accounts respectively.
Among other allegations, Bitar is accused of having approved eight-figure monthly profit distributions to himself and other owners in the months before Full Tilt’s closure, despite a February 2011 warning from financial staff that the operator was projected to run out of all funds in a matter of months. Indeed by June of the same year, the company had just $2.1m in available funds.
The pair are charged on 11 counts, and could face fines in excess of $2.5bn between them as well as being required to forfeit all ownership rights to Full Tilt and its associated companies.
Bitar pleads not guilty in US court
Full Tilt Poker chief executive Ray Bitar has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him after surrendering to US authorities in New York.
According to poker news site Diamond Flush Poker, the 40-year-old was told by magistrate judge Debra Freeman that he would be entitled to bail, but that US$2.4m, including $1m in cash, would need to be posted rather than the previous figure of $250,000. Until that point he has been remanded in custody with a pre-trial conference scheduled for next Monday.
It remains uncertain whether Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the sentencing of Bitar’s fellow Black Friday indictee John Campos last month, will sit on the bench when Bitar stands trial. This is because Kaplan used to work at the same firm “ Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP “ which is representing the 40 year-old CEO.
Seven days in people news:
First sentencing in Black Friday case
Payment processor John Campos has become the first of the 11 Black Friday indictees to receive a prison term, with Judge Lewis Kaplan sentencing him to three months in prison.
Campos (pictured) has also been sentenced to three months’ probation and has been barred for life from serving as a director or officer of a bank, following the involvement of SunFirst Bank – which he part-owned – in processing online gambling payments.
The 59-year-old had pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanour charge in March, 11 months after being indicted on six counts including violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) and money laundering conspiracy.
Sports Offshore’s Eremian and Lyons sentenced
Daniel Eremian, the principal of US-facing bookmaker Sports Offshore, has been sentenced to three years in prison and been ordered to forfeit US$7.7m after being convicted on counts of racketeering and illegal gambling.
The 62-year-old is the brother-in-law of United States Representative John Tierney, and has claimed that the politician “knew everything” about the illegal goings-on.
According to various newspapers in Massachusetts, where he was sentenced, Eremian said: “Tierney is the biggest liar in the world…he knew everything that was going on in my family for years. He sat with bookies at Fenway Park.”
Email any new moves to t.victor@egrmagazine.com with the subject line ‘eGR People Moves’.