Friday, September 30, 2011

Full Tilt Poker's license gets revoked

By Patrick Rizzo

Full Tilt Poker, which the U.S.?has accused of running an online Ponzi scheme, had its gambling licenses revoked Thursday by a British gambling watchdog.

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission said in a statement that it had revoked the licenses of??Vantage Limited, Filco Limited and Oxalic Limited, trading as Full Tilt Poker, because it "emerged that FTP had fundamentally misled AGCC about their operational integrity by continuously reporting as liquid funds balances that had been covertly seized or restrained by US authorities, or that were otherwise not actually available to the operator."

Full Tilt was not immediately available to comment. The Channel Islands-based AGCC noted that its move does not prevent Full Tilt from reactivating its business under new ownership.

"Unresolved claims by players against FTP become a matter for the police and civil authorities. Now that FTP?s licences have been revoked, AGCC no longer has jurisdiction over these companies," AGCC said.

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that FTP has been in talks with potential investors for months.

Last week, Justice Department accused poker superstars Christopher ?Jesus? Ferguson, Howard ?The Professor? Lederer and other executives of using?a poker website to?operate a Ponzi scheme that?defrauded players out of $300 million.

"Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme," said Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement on Sept. 20.?A Ponzi scheme, named after famed swindler Charles Ponzi, is a pyramid scam in which supposed profits are paid out to early investors through funds from later investors.

In the statement, Bharara said Full Tilt "cheated and abused its own players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars." It went on to say that "insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and the public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company."

UPDATE: Hours after Alderney's decision, Full Tilt Poker released a statement to?PokerStrategy.com. In it, Full Tilt concludes: ?Notwithstanding the potential damage done by the Commission and its disregard for our players, Full Tilt Poker remains committed to repaying its players in full and continues in active negotiations."

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/29/8038103-full-tilt-pokers-license-gets-revoked

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