Former Full Tilt CEO to Plead Guilty
In the biggest news pertaining to the Full Tilt Poker story to break in months, on Monday it was reported by the Wall Street Journal that Ray Bitar, former head of the once-massive online poker website, will plead guilty to charges associated with his role in the company.
Bitar, who surrendered to authorities last July at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York after returning to the United States from Ireland, has worked out a plea deal with federal prosecutors, though to which crimes he will plead guilty has not been made public.
Bitar is receiving special “courtesy” due to the fact that he apparently is in ill health and requires a heart transplant. He has been in California since his return to the United States last year.
According to Bitar’s attorney, John F. Baughman, “It’s a very unusual situation. We’ve been able to work out something with the government that takes into account the unique circumstances. We appreciate the government’s courtesy in this regard.”
Full Tilt was shut down nearly two years ago by the United States Justice Department amid allegations that the site was violating US anti-gambling law, particularly the UIGEA, a 2006 bill that forbids certain types of financial transactions related to online gambling.
The government accused Full Tilt of operating like a Ponzi scheme, using money deposited on the site by players to fund lavish salaries and bonuses for founders and executives, many of whom have stated publicly that the company was at times treated like a piggy bank. The scandal surrounding the downfall of Full Tilt Poker touched many big names in the game, including Howard Lederer and Phil Ivey, the so-called “Tiger Woods of poker.”
Since then, Full Tilt has been purchased by its former rival, PokerStars, who settled with the United States government without admitting wrongdoing, though PokerStars also continued to offer real money online poker games to US residents after 2006. In order to acquire Full Tilt’s assets as well as to settle its player debts, PokerStars agreed to pay $731 million as part of its deal with the government.
Last fall, PokerStars re-launched Full Tilt in regulated markets outside the United States, reimbursing players who previously held accounts with the site at the time of its reopening. US-based players have yet to be refunded the money that has been frozen ever since Full Tilt was shuttered on April 15, 2011, though last month the DOJ announced that it had appointed a firm to oversee the remittance process.
Reportedly Bitar won’t serve any jail time under the terms of his plea agreement. Some of the charges he was facing included conspiracy, money-laundering, and wire fraud, for which he was looking at a possible life sentence.
