DOJ Files Second Complaint Against Lederer, Bitar, Ferguson and Furst

The US Department of Justice has filed a second amended complaint in the Black Friday case, including new forfeiture charges against Howard Lederer and Ray Bitar.

Howard Lederer

The amended complaint explains the history of $137 million which is alleged to have been distributed to Howard Lederer, Ray Bitar, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst between 2006 and 2011.

The new complaint states that "There is probable cause to believe that the Defendant Properties constitute, or are traceable to property used in illegal gambling businesses."

Almost $444m was said to be distributed to the 23 owners of Full Tilt Poker. The government is targeting the following amounts from the four main FTP "insiders",

• $42.5 million from Howard Lederer
• $42 million from Chris Ferguson
• $40.8 million from Ray Bitar
• $11.7 million from Rafe Furst

The complaint also provided details of how Lederer and Bitar were said to have used these distributions of money.

Lederer is said to have used them to fund his personal accounts, mortgage payments, retirement funds, a number of properties, and several cars including a Maserati, four Audis, and a 1965 Shelby Cobra.

The amendment attributed two homes in California to Ray Bitar.

This new complaint also added a new criminal statute in support of the forfeiture request. The Travel Act, which forbids the use of "interstate and foreign travel of transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises." This is in addition the previous statutes of the Illegal Gambling Business Act and the Wire Act.

As always, we will endeavour to bring you more on this story as it develops.

By Barry Carter