The Garden City Group(GCG), the Full Tilt Claims Administrator authorized by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, posted an update on its site on Monday with information about the next round of payments.

The key portion of the statement reads: “GCG has been informed that the Department of Justice Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section has approved a new round of payments, which will mark the commencement of payments to Petitioners who have disputed their FTP Account Balances. In addition, payments will be made to Petitioners who have confirmed their FTP Account Balances and recently cured deficiencies. In all, the distribution will include approximately 3,500 Petitions totaling approximately $2.8 million.”

According to the GCG, those who are receiving their funds this month fall into one of two categories: (1) Those who had a disputed funds total of $500 or less or (2) Those who had a total of $501 to $2,000, while at the same time having a gap between the amount listed in Full Tilt’s records and the player’s records of less than 20%. Everyone else who still has balances in dispute are still having their petitions reviewed.

The GCG says that funds should be transferred into players’ bank accounts by the end of March, though not everyone will receive the full, approved amount. Some players may owe a debt to the US such as, say, back taxes, and will have their Full Tilt refund amount reduced so that the debt can be collected under the Treasury Offset Program.

It has been a long process for former American customers of Full Tilt Poker to receive their funds that were frozen when the Black Friday indictments were unsealed on April 15, 2011. This is the first round of payments destined for players with disputed balances. Stay tuned to PocketFives for the latest.

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