Full Tilt Attempting to Settle with District of Maryland
Full Tilt Poker is in talks with the United States Attorney for the District of Maryland in an attempt to settle an outstanding civil suit related to seized assets in Swiss accounts.
The case, United States of America v. Funds Contained in Four Accounts (Oldford Group et al), was initially filed in October of 2009 in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division. It is a verified complaint for forfeiture on funds contained in four accounts related to internet gambling. Basically, it stakes a claim to funds in those accounts because they were allegedly earned in an illegal fashion.
Of the four accounts, two belonged to Ranston Ltd., one of the companies which comprises Full Tilt Poker. Another belonged to Oldford Group Ltd., part of PokerStars, and the fourth belonged to Albright Finance Ltd., an entity which at the time of this writing we were unable to clearly identify.
Despite having been initially filed in 2009, several actions related to this case have taken place this month.
Recent Developments
On October 12th, the US filed a motion to unseal the case- basically, making public information related to it. The following excerpt from the motion to unseal explains the interaction between the US and Switzerland:
"When this case was filed, the Court granted the government's motion to seal the case while the government filed a treaty request that asked the government of Switzerland to freeze the target accounts. The Swiss granted the request and froze the accounts, but the owners of the accounts have been litigating the freeze order for the past several months."
The motion to unseal was granted, and on October 21st, a letter to United States Judge Catherine C. Blake, who is presiding over the case, was sent by U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein and Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard C. Kay.
The contents of the letter are as follows:
"Dear Judge Blake:
This is a civil forfeiture case against the contents of four bank accounts from Switzerland. As of today, I have received records from the Swiss that pertain to only three of the four accounts. As to the Albright Finance Ltd. account, there is reason to believe that no claim will be filed pertaining to that account. As to the Oldford account, the owners of that account are still engaged in litigation in Switzerland about the order freezing the account.
As to the two Ranston accounts, I have been contacted by Barry Boss, Esquire, who represents Randson Ltd., which appears to be the owner of the two accounts. Mr. Boss and I have opened discussions towards a potential settlement of the interests in the Ranston accounts. In order to facilitate the settlement process, the government has agreed to waive all filing time limits for Ranston while we are making progress with settlement discussions.
I will submit a status report to the Court if the case is not resolved as to the Ranston accounts by December 21st, 2011.
Very truly yours,
Rod J. Rosenstein
United States Attorney"
The letter shows that Full Tilt Poker is attempting to put an end to their legal issues with the District of Maryland via a settlement. Discussions are apparently making significant enough progress that the government has even agreed to waive filing time limits for the company in relation to this matter.
When considering the reasons why Full Tilt may be taking this approach, it is interesting to note that PokerStars is continuing litigation in Switzerland over their own account.
Although it is not entirely clear how, Full Tilt's attempt to absolve itself of this outstanding litigation may be related to the potential takeover of the company by Groupe Bernard Tapie. One possible explanation is that the Tapie Groupe wants to ensure that they will not face any significant, unexpected fines in the event that a purchase does take place.
As always, PokerStrategy.com will keep you up to date as this and all related stories develop.
Documents Referenced:
The 2009 Verified Complaint for Forfeiture
Government Motion to Unseal
Letter from U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein to Judge Catherine C. Blake
Recent Full Tilt Stories:
Full Tilt Players Surveyed by French Magazine
AGCC Falsely Reported DOJ Seizures
Tony G To Take Legal Action Against AGCC, Claims They Knew About FTP's Problems
AGCC To Hold Review After Full Tilt Scandal
Full Tilt Poker: What Has Happened Lately?
by Matt Kaufman
