DoJ Appoints Claims Administrator To Assist in Paying Back FTP Players
Players who were once members of the Full Tilt Poker site had long since despaired of ever getting their money out of their accounts once the poker room was seized by the US Department of Justice (DoJ). However, recent news reports reveal that the Full Tilt Poker site has managed to come out of its downward spiral on account of a buy out from another poker room – PokerStars.
Although PokerStars was also seized and shut down by the US Department of Justice, this poker room had better control of its finances than Full Tilt Poker; it was able to pay back its players and now has bought up the FTP site and is in the process of paying out these players as well.
However, paying the members of the Full Tilt Poker site is not a simple matter and requires a lot of processing. As a result of this, the US Department of Justice has set apart a special post of a Full Tilt Poker Claims Administrator to handle these affairs.
The DOJ has estimated the amount of people who need to be paid back. “At present the Government estimates there are approximately 1.3 million potential U.S. victims, and that approximately $159 million of forfeited funds (less expenses of administration) is immediately available for distribution via the remission process.”
“In consultation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the United States Department of Justice, the Claims Administrator will design and execute a process to solicit, receive and evaluate claims, and to process payments, for losses incurred by U.S. victims that are attributable to the fraud alleged in the above complaint” according to the US Department of Justice.
The appointed Claims Administrator will be required to handle all claims from Full Tilt Poker players and process their funds. It is sure to be a difficult job and probably will cause the person concerned to receive a lot of complaints from angry customers who have faced delays in processing their payments. According to the US Department of Justice, “In so doing the Claims Administrator will obtain and evaluate information, such as financial transaction records, from claimants, and analyze information contained in user account records provided in database and other format by Full Tilt Poker.”
PokerStars was quite willing to reimburse Full Tilt Poker’s US players, but the US DoJ decided to take up this job for reasons best known to it. Poker players are wondering if the DoJ intends to collect taxes on players’ poker money.
Meanwhile, the Poker Players Alliance (PPA) expressed its willingness to help the DoJ create an accessible and streamlined claims procedure to return to Full Tilt Poker’s US players their money. The DoJ has neither responded to the PPA nor informed the alliance clearly whether it would like to accept the help. Needless to say, the PPA wants the government to refund players in full.
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