The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a second amended complaint against former Full Tilt Poker front men Ray Bitar and Howard Lederer (pictured). Among the new items in the revised complaint are nearly $10 million in charges from Lederer payable to Merlin, a construction company who built his home, through various checks and wire transfers in 2009 and 2010.Speaking on Lederer's spending, the DOJ alleged, "For construction of both the main house and the guest house at the Hawk Ridge Property, Lederer paid Merlin at least approximately $10,513,724 in United States currency, which funds were traceable to proceeds of the criminal scheme set forth above." The "criminal scheme" in question is the operation of Full Tilt Poker, which U.S. officials labeled a "global Ponzi scheme" late last year.
Overall, according to eGaming Review and the DOJ's newest filing, "Of the estimated U.S. $443M total, the USAO claims 'at least $44,314,997.31 in United States currency that was directly tied to... criminal conduct' was paid into a bank account in the name of HH Lederer Consulting… Between approximately December 26, 2006 through approximately August 2, 2011, at least approximately $42,470,660 of the above-identified illicit funds that had been deposited into the Lederer Consulting account were transferred into a personal bank account... held in the name of Howard and Susan Lederer."
Also singled out by the Government are Lederer's retirement savings, which DOJ officials allege total $371,000, were payable to LPL Financial, and were deposited in a SEP IRA.
The filing also details Lederer's rides allegedly purchased with illegal funds, including a 2008 Maserati GranTurismo, a 2008 Audi Q7, a 2009 Audi A8, and a 2012 Audi A8 L Quattro, the latter of which was purchased in June 2011, two months after Black Friday and the same month that the Alderney Gambling Control Commission suspended Full Tilt's operating license on the grounds that it had been "misled." Also listed by the Feds is a 2010 "1965" Shelby Cobra.
Bitar's (pictured) traceable assets include homes at 1506 Forest Oaks Drive in Glendora, California and 752 Rainbow Drive in Glendora, California.The Government summarized, "There is probable cause to believe that the defendant properties constitute, or are traceable to, property used in an illegal gambling business… the proceeds of an illegal gambling business… [and] the proceeds of wire fraud and bank fraud and a conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud."
According to PokerNews, "Because the listed expenditures can be traced to an 'illegal enterprise,' the DOJ seeks forfeitures in the following amounts: Howard Lederer - $42.5 million, Chris Ferguson - $42 million, Ray Bitar - $40.8 million, and Rafe Furst - $11.7 million."
PokerNews added that the DOJ has, this time around, invoked the Travel Act, which "forbids the use of interstate and foreign travel of transportation in aid of racketeering enterprises."
You'll recall that in August, Senior United States District Judge Jack Weinstein ruled that poker does not constitute illegal gambling under the Illegal Gambling Business Act. Last year, a DOJ opinion released just two days before Christmas decreed that the Wire Act of 1961 only applies to online sports betting. These two rulings could possibly explain the addition of the Travel Act to the revised complaint.
In late August, Lederer's legal team fought back in the wake of the IGBA decision, arguing, "The core of the Government's allegations in this case is that online real money poker violates IGBA." Therefore, if the IGBA ruling were invoked and online poker were permissible under U.S. law, then, according to Lederer's lawyers, "much of the Government’s case here, and many of the seizures which have already been authorized, will no longer have a legal basis."
