Full Tilt Poker, previously headquartered on the small island of Alderney just off the UK coast, has been run through the virtual sawmill in the last 15 months, starting with the US Department of Justice’s seizure of its domain name in April of 2011, followed by its revocation of licensing from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission and, most recently, having the defunct online poker site’s CEO arrested at JFK Airport on June 2, 2012.
Raymond Bitar, Chief Executive Officer of Full Tilt, was taken into custody on Monday, accused of multiple illegal acts that include wire fraud, money laundering, operating an illegal online gambling site and a host of other charges, but most significant of participating in what the US government has labeled an international Ponzi-scheme.
A Ponzi-scheme, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a fraudulent investment operation that pays returns to its investors from their own money or the money paid by subsequent investors, rather than from profit earned by the individual or organization running the operation”.
This particular charge relates to the fact that Americans who were once active members of the real money online poker room had their accounts frozen ‘until further notice’ in April of 2011, and have yet to be paid back any of the estimated $350 million owed to them by Full Tilt. While US poker players continue to wait for their funds to be returned – something many have speculated will never actually take place – Full Tilt did manage to pay $440 million to its directors. Most interesting, indeed!
Bitar has not stepped foot on US soil since the DoJ filed charges against him and other members of Full Tilt, as well as two other online poker sites, PokerStars and Absolute Poker, in April 2011. An emergency hearing was scheduled Monday where Raymond Bitar pled not guilty to nine counts, including participation in a Ponzi-scheme.
The former real-money online poker site’s CEO has been camping out in Ireland at Full Tilt’s Dublin office for well over a year now. When asked why he hasn’t bothered to dispute the charges on US soil up until now, Bitar claimed that he has been too busy working on “possible solutions to get players paid”.
After the hearing, Bitar’s attorney released a statement on his behalf. “I returned voluntary to the US from Full Tilt’s headquarters in Ireland to face the charges against me. I know that a lot of people are very angry at me. I understand why”. While this is in no way an admission of guilt, he went on to explain that, “Full Tilt should never have gotten into a position where it could not repay player funds”.
“With today’s arrest and the new charges brought against him, Raymond Bitar will now be held criminally responsible for the alleged fraud he perpetrated on his US customers that cost them hundreds of millions of dollars”, US Attorney Preet Bharara told the press on Monday. “The indictment alleges how Bitar bluffed his player-customers and fixed the game against them as part of an international Ponzi scheme that left players empty-handed.”
Full Tilt Poker has not been in the business of providing online poker for real money since it’s license was revoked by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission on Setember 29, 2011. Bitar faces up to a maximum of 145 years in jail if convicted.