Full Tilt Poker is an online poker site that is now in trouble for defrauding its players of $300 million worth of funds by failing to pay the players’ winnings and deposits. Whether or not Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar and other members of the board and players including Howard Lederer, Christopher Ferguson and Rafael Furst used the money to benefit themselves and other members of the board, the fact is that they have run short on cash in order to play Full Tilt Poker’s existing players.
A ‘Global Ponzi Scheme’
Well, the fact that Full Tilt Poker has run out of cash to spend can be a convincing argument that Full Tilt was running some suspicious transactions. US Attorney in Manhattan Preet Bahrara said in a statement that “Full tilt insiders lined their own pockets with funds picked from the pockets of their most loyal customers while blithely lying to both players and public alike about the safety and security of the money deposited with the company,” Bharara also added that Full Tilt just made a Ponzi scheme with its players as its victims. Prosecuters are now accusing the Poker Tilt executives of transferring the millions of dollars worth of player funds to their own accounts in Switzerland and to other locations as well.
On the Other Side of the Coin
Of course, there are also people who are questioning whether these accusations could stand a chance in winning a legal case. Ex federal prosecutor James Montana stated that what Full Tilt was in line with was actually gambling and that “People are constantly putting money on deposit.” And that “It’s almost a guaranteed cash flow. It’s a little different than your normal Ponzi scheme.” Appearantly, Melinda Sarafa also believes this to be a case much different from a Ponzi scheme and stated that “This was a poker business that had a legitimate business model but ran into processing disruptions. It’s not clear to me that this was an intentional plan to defraud customers and line pockets.”
Of course, Full Tilt itself blames the government enforcement activities for reaching into its funds and the issue about the inside theft that took place back in 2010. Intentional or not, Full Tilt has not the fund to repay its players. Full Tilt Poker also releases updates on private sites about their search for potential investors that would give it the ability to pay back its players’ deposits and winnings.
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