Over six years after the incident first occurred, the final funds that were laundered by former Full Tilt Poker Chief Executive Officer Ray Bitar have been remitted to the States of America government.
The BBC had previously reported that a small amount of money, roughly £9.5 million (roughly $13 million U. S.), was recently found on the Channel Island of Guernsey. The government of the small enclave negotiated with the U. S. Department of Justice for the return of the money, commenting that they had been a “reliable partner” of the U. S. in questions regarding money laundering. The two parties had to wait until the case against Bitar had been litigated before the money could be released, however.
Both sides praised each other regarding the case. Guernsey Attorney General Megan Pullman noted that “it was an excellent example” of two law enforcement agencies working together. “Guernsey has an ongoing and exemplary commitment to international co-operation and mutual legal assistance and we are therefore extremely pleased to announce this asset share,” Pullman stated after the announcement of the money retrieval. Agent John Cronan of the U. S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division was also complimentary of the work done by Guernsey officials.
The case of Ray Bitar has been perhaps the most intriguing of those that were caught up in the “Black Friday” scandal of 2011. When the federal government shut down the “Big Three” – PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and the CEREUS Network rooms of UltimateBet (UB.com) and Absolute Poker – on April 15, 2011, the rooms were caught flat-footed about what to do next. The federal government came back a few days later and offered to let the rooms have access to their websites to refund players their money, but only PokerStars – who had sequestered player accounts to keep the players’ monies from business monies – was able to do it.
For some reason, Full Tilt Poker was judged the most harshly by those in the poker community. For another six months, Full Tilt Poker (under the operations of Bitar and allegedly Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson) attempted to make enough money to be able to remit the funds back to U. S. players. The damage was done, however, as international players stayed away. In September 2011, the online poker site was shuttered when their license was suspended in the Isle of Man.
Bitar, who was allegedly in charge of the site when it was shut down, was one of the 11 men charged with a variety of online gaming and fraud charges under the “Black Friday” indictment. He left the U. S. and, after the Department of Justice and PokerStars were able to work out a deal for the site to buy Full Tilt Poker and pay off all its players in 2012 (PokerStars would bring FTP back for a couple of years before shutting it down again in March of last year), would return to the U. S. to face his charges.
The case was quite convoluted, mostly because of Bitar’s alleged health issues at the time. When the plea bargain was reached Bitar, who had been serving his jail time in house arrest in California, asked for mercy from the sentencing judge in the case. Citing his failing physical health that had doctors saying he wouldn’t live beyond three months, Bitar’s attorneys asked that the judge sentence Bitar to the time served and complete forfeiture of his money and properties (believed to be about $40 million). The attorney agreed, sentencing Bitar to time served and releasing him in 2013 (on the second anniversary of “Black Friday”).
Bitar laid low for two years before reappearing in 2015. In a lavish, high dollar affair, Bitar married and looked nothing like the shell of a man who appeared in a courtroom in 2013 asking for mercy because of health issues. It was wondered by many in the poker community how the ceremony was paid for, but no other information was learned after the fact.
Unlike a couple of his accomplices, Bitar hasn’t returned to a poker room. Both Lederer and Ferguson have come back to the World Series of Poker – but no other tournaments – with Ferguson arguably having the greater success. Ferguson was crowned the WSOP Player of the Year after this year’s festivities in Las Vegas.
Of the “Black Friday” defendants, only one remains and it is likely he will never surrender to U. S. authorities. Isai Scheinberg, the founder and operator of PokerStars from its inception until it was sold to Amaya Gaming (now The Stars Group), has never entered discussion with the government regarding a plea bargain nor has he traveled from Israel, where the Canadian calls home now. Although he is no longer linked with PokerStars, Scheinberg’s shadow is still a long one, one that the feds would like to close on the “Black Friday” scandal.
