At virtually the last minute, the major players in last year’s Black Friday indictmentshave filed legal motions seeking to dismiss the civil complaints levied against them. According to eGaming Review, PokerStars‘ legal team filed a motion for dismissal with the Southern District of New York, alleging that the Federal complaint hasn’t proven there was a crime committed.

Although the PokerStars motion says the Federal complaint “reads like a novel,” PokerStars claims that there is a high standard to prove in the civil action and that the U.S. Department of Justice has failed to reach said standard.

The New York law firm Skadden, Arps, Meagher, and Flom filed a 51-page motion for the dismissal of all the charges against PokerStars, pointing out three areas where Federal authorities have failed to prove their case. In responding to the Federal claim for almost $1.5 billion from PokerStars, the attorneys state that the Federal action doesn’t provide adequate details as to what PokerStars actually did. Thus, the company cannot prepare an adequate defense.

In responding to the Feds’ contentions that PokerStars violated the Illegal Gambling Business Act, PokerStars’ attorneys declared that there isn’t a “viable theory” of how the company infringed on the act, wire and bank fraud regulations, and U.S. money laundering laws. Finally, PokerStars’ legal team contends that the Federal Government is not able to seize money or property from the company because it lacks the jurisdictional authority to do so.

“In light of the heightened pleading standards applicable to civil forfeiture claims, and because the facts alleged in the complaint do not give rise to liability under the relevant criminal and forfeiture statutes, each of these causes of action must be dismissed as a matter of law,” PokerStars’ legal team requests.

The PokerStars action comes on the heels of Full Tilt Poker’s Howard Lederer (pictured), Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst’s motions for dismissal. All three filed similar motions earlier this week.

“Although the Government alleges that Lederer participated in a scheme to defraud FTP’s customers, specific factual allegations against him are nowhere to be found,” Lederer’s motion stated. “How, exactly, did he mislead players regarding their deposits and accounts? What did he say to them, and when did he say it? Was any information Lederer allegedly provided false when given, and if so, did Lederer know it? The Government doesn’t say.”

The document continues, “The only specific factual allegations against Lederer are that he co-founded FTP and helped build it into a successful business, and that he received distributions as part-owner of the company. These allegations fail to state a fraud claim – or any claim – against Lederer.”

The important point for many American poker players is what the motion means for the rumored PokerStars purchase of Full Tilt Poker and the potential refund of FTP bankrolls. While the DOJ and PokerStars have been in discussions for a resolution to the situation, those talks have dragged on. Then, PokerStars had to file its motion for dismissal before the appropriate time expired.

eGaming Review doesn’t opine on whether the sale discussions will be affected by PokerStars’ motion. The continued sticking points, according to eGaming Review, continue to be the amount of any fine (a $1 billion price tag is reportedly the price) and exoneration for PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, executive Paul Tate, and former Full Tilt Poker leader Nelson Burtnick.

Last week, another player in the ongoing saga, Full Tilt Poker’s Ray Bitar (pictured), surrendered to Federal authoritiesin New York after flying in from Ireland. On Tuesday, Bitar settled on a $2.5 million bond, with $1 million of it secured, and was released despite the DOJ’s insistence that he was a flight risk.

Although the judge denied the DOJ’s request for Bitar to remain in jail, it was revealed that he allegedly received over $2 million in salary following Black Friday.

Bitar will not exactly walk away a free man, however. There were several conditions for his release, including electronic monitoring, giving up his passport, and restrictions on his travel until trial. He will be allowed to return to California to live and return to New York for any legal proceedings, but any other travel is prohibited.