It’s been a busy day for the entire online poker community, which is dealing with the fallout from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) yanking Full Tilt Poker’s operating license. The U.S. Department of Justice, which called Full Tilt Poker a Ponzi schemelast week and issued seizure orders for assets of four of its figureheads, admitted today that player refunds were possible, but could take months. Now, Full Tilt Poker has spoken out.

In a statement posted on Poker Strategy, Full Tilt Poker called the latest setback a “blow to Full Tilt Poker players… The Commission’s decision to revoke Full Tilt Poker’s operating licenses makes it more difficult to execute the sale of the company and hence repay its players.”

The statement explained that in the closed-door meeting between AGCC and Full Tilt Poker representatives in July, Full Tilt gave the testimony of a potential investor. In doing so, the now dormant online poker room convinced AGCC officials to postpone the hearing for what would end up being a period of 54 days. AGCC and Full Tilt Poker officials reconvened last Monday, September 19th, and the AGCC announced that Full Tilt’s license had been revoked today.

Full Tilt Poker statement added, “The Commission announced its decision to revoke three of the four Full Tilt Poker operating licenses despite the weight of evidence presented at the hearing by Full Tilt Poker of investor interest in acquiring the company.” Full Tilt previously stated that it hosted over a half-dozen potential investors at its headquarters, but none came away with a deal.

Full Tilt insisted that its main objective remains paying back players a total of nearly $400 million: “Throughout the last few months, Full Tilt Poker has been totally committed to ensuring repayment of its players in full – a commitment that it has expressed repeatedly to the Commission, and the company believed that it was engaged in a collaborative effort with the Commission to repay its players.”

The DOJ claimed that rather than repay customers, Full Tilt instead doled out $443 million to its executives and pros in a “global Ponzi scheme.”

According to the AGCC, Full Tilt Poker representatives were not present at last week’s hearing: “FTP elected not to be present at the regulatory hearing and its legal representatives were therefore instructed not to be present at the regulatory hearing.” Full Tilt was represented at pre-hearing meetings on September 19th and 20th. The AGCC elected to revoke the license on the 26th and heard testimony from two Full Tilt Poker lawyers the next day.

The AGCC’s findings went on to state that what was once the world’s second largest online poker room is now “insolvent” and in a “troubled financial position.” Moreover, between June 2007 and June 2011, the DOJ seized $331 million from the site, which is nearly enough to cover the $390 million due to players from around the world. According to the AGCC, Full Tilt failed to report the seizures to its regulatory body in a timely manner.

The AGCC’s findings added that Full Tilt “failed to remit funds standing to the credit of a customer at the request of a customer,” the company’s “player liabilities exceed the assets,” and the poker room was “unable to collect the payments made by their customers.” The latter, dubbed “backlog,” amounted to $128 million, purportedly about twice the cash Full Tilt had on-hand.

The DOJ noted that the process of investigating Full Tilt Poker and potentially issuing refunds to players could take “many months at the least.” In the interim, the DOJ is seeking the assets of Full Tilt Poker’s figureheads: “At this time, this office, together with the FBI and other agencies, is attempting to trace, secure, and forfeit as much as possible of the funds derived from operation of the fraud committed by Full Tilt Poker and its Board members that is alleged in the amended complaint.”

The DOJ has already targeted bank accounts belong to Rafe Furst, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Ray Bitar.

Members of the poker industry were reacting to the tidal wave of news this afternoon. B.J. Nemeth questioned via Twitter, “So Full Tilt has been indicted, lost its license, and owes $300+ million to its players. Is there any next move other than bankruptcy?” Florida poker pro Randy Dorfman weighed in, “Unreal. Full Tilt blaming AGCC for players’ woes. DOJ needs to come down with [an] iron fist.”

Check out our articles related to Full Tilt Poker’s license being revoked:
DOJ Claims Full Tilt Player Refunds Possible, Could Take Months
AGCC on Revoking Full Tilt Poker’s License: FTP Misled Us