New Obstacles Emerge in Full Tilt Poker, Groupe Bernard Tapie Deal
According to an article posted on Subject: Pokeron Wednesday, $14.3 million allegedly owed to Full Tilt Poker front man Chris Ferguson could be the latest obstacle in a deal to transfer the assets of the dormant online poker room to Groupe Bernard Tapie. While PocketFives was unable to verify the contents of the story as of press time, Subject: Poker revealed that Ferguson transferred about $60 million in Full Tilt Poker distributions to bank accounts held under the name “Pocket Kings Ltd.”
Subject: Poker added that Ferguson “successfully withdrew or spent about $45 million of this funneled money, but about $14.3 million of it was used for Full Tilt’s post-Black Friday expenses, reportedly with his permission.” Since at least 2007, Ferguson’s payments from Full Tilt were reportedly sent to personal bank accounts as well as those held under the name of the room’s parent company.
The future of the $14.3 million could be a sticking point to the deal. According to Subject: Poker, the initial idea was to give “Jesus” non-voting stock shares worth $14.3 million. However, after the U.S. Department of Justice declared that former Board members could not have an interest in the new company, the parties were sent back to the drawing board.
The same article notes that Ferguson and his legal counsel, Ian Imrich, have “threatened to file for, amongst other things, a constructive trust over the money seized on Black Friday and injunctive relief to delay the planned forfeiture of FTP’s assets until their issue is settled… The approximately $35-$45 million that was seized on Black Friday is currently expected to be released to GBT to help repay non-U.S. players. So, either of these steps could stop the deal if they were granted by a judge.”
A phone call placed by PocketFives to Imrich was not returned at press time.
Subject: Poker added that even if Ferguson (pictured) received the $14.3 million he’s allegedly owed, the DOJ could seize it given the ongoing legal battle it’s waging with Full Tilt Poker’s Board: “The DOJ has successfully seized approximately $300,000 from Ferguson, significantly less than the $25 million that the DOJ is suing Ferguson for in the amended complaint. So, it is not clear how Ferguson intends to receive the $14.3 million without immediately having it seized by the DOJ.”
On PocketFives, a thread developed in the Poker Sites forumabout what could be the latest obstacle to Full Tilt Poker’s asset transfer. PocketFives Elite member wackyJaxon noted, “I am assuming that Chris knew about the issue of FTP floating funds they were not collecting from U.S. players… Assuming that is the case, Chris Ferguson looks a lot worse in my eyes than Howard Lederer [by] going after more money and holding up and perhaps threatening the deal with the GBT.”
A PocketFives member from Colorado bluntly stated, “Greed tilts me.”
This is one of the first nuggets of news from the Full Tilt Poker front since mid-December, when Full Tilt and Groupe Bernard Tapie agreed on an asset transfer. The deal would send the assets of the former to the latter using the U.S. Department of Justice as an intermediary.
Last month, Subject: Poker explained that the deal “follows the November 17th agreement between DOJ and GBT that allows GBT to purchase forfeited FTP assets from the DOJ… for an agreed-upon price of $80 million. In return, GBT also agrees to repay or otherwise make whole non-U.S. players, who are owed over $150 million.”
The DOJ would reportedly take charge of paying back Full Tilt’s U.S. players. In September, the DOJ had acknowledged that the entire process could take multiple months and called the site a “global Ponzi scheme.” Meanwhile, we’re just three months away from the one-year anniversary of Black Friday. Last April, Full Tilt jettisoned the U.S. market along with PokerStars, Absolute Poker, and UB. The latter two sites have also not paid back U.S. players.
According to Subject: Poker, Ferguson and Imrich are trying to recoup “any funds that they feel were spent improperly,” although it’s not immediately clear what “improperly” means in this case. It added, “We have no reason to believe that the above threats have in any way been successful in stalling or impeding the impending deal.”
Groupe Bernard Tapie officials originally expressed a desire to re-launch the Full Tilt brand in the future. Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest.
