Group Tapie Start Asset Transfers with Full Tilt Poker
After all the trouble that Full Tilt Poker has been having since the events of Black Friday, US and UK poker players were beginning to wonder if the site would ever get back on its feet. When rumors and later reports about a possible investment solution from Group Bernard Tapie (GBT) began to circulate and the AGCC did not clamp down on the site, things began to perk up for the FTP site and players hoped that they would get to see all the money that was stuck in their accounts.
Reports now indicate that Group Bernard Tapie (GBT) is making plans to initiate a transfer of assets between Full Tilt Poker and the company. This will be the first step taken towards repaying the poker players who have had the funds in their poker accounts frozen. This news will be greeted with much excitement by existing FTP players.
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) is helping the deal along and is functioning as an intermediary between the two companies. According to the deal, all the Full Tilt Poker assets are being held by the US Department of Justice and Bernard Tapie will buy these assets from the DOJ for an agreed upon price. GBT will transfer a sum of $80 million to the DOJ in exchange for Full Tilt; as per the agreement the US Department of Justice will also drop all charges against the site.
However, any and all individual cases that involve the owners or Full Tilt Poker or FTP players will continue as they are, as the DOJ has only “agreed to dismiss the civil complaints for forfeiture against the FTP companies.” For instance, cases against Rafe Furst, Chris Ferguson, Howard Lederer or Ray Bitar will still have to be taken to trial to be defended.
So far it has been estimated that the US players are owed a collective amount of $150 million; however, the responsibility of paying back the players will lie with the Bernard Tapie and one can only hope that GBT knows what it is doing by paying $80 million for a company in debt of $150 million.
According to Sanford Millar, a legal representative of gaming clients, who is based in LA, “The process for player claims will neither be simple nor speedy.” Millar believes that US poker players will have to show proof of their deposits and withdrawals before requesting for funds. They will also have to have clean income tax records in “compliance with federal income tax laws,” and also show proof of the “source of funds for all deposits.”
There has been no information regarding when the assets transfer will be complete and when players can start expecting their money back but this can only commence once the DOJ has dropped all charges against the site.
According to reports, the owners of Full Tilt Poker got to have a say in the matter and voted on the deal; even the major shareholders of the FTP organization got to approve the deal. The existing owners will get equity in the new enterprise once the Group Bernard Tapie take control of the company.
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