Howard Lederer and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson at the 2010 WSOP
According to Manhattan's U.S. attorney, Preet Bharara, Full Tilt Poker was nothing more than a giant Ponzi scheme transferring hundreds of millions of dollars to company directors and select professional poker players. Called out Tuesday by name were Howard Lederer and Chris "Jesus" Ferguson. The Feds claim the directors have received more than $400 million of player account money since 2007. Federal prosecutors said they were amending the original money laundering complaint against Full Tilt to include the duet of Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson.
Prosecutors said Full Tilt directors improperly used players' account money to line their pockets while cash held in reserve to pay players that were cashing out dwindled to a few million. Apparently Full Tilt was betting on the unlikelihood of a large number of players all cashing out at the same time. Exactly what happened when the feds shut them down in April.
Howard Lederer allegedly told the company in June the really bad news, they were down to $6 million in available cash. This news came shortly after the first Fed action created the instant wrath of players clamoring for the return of almost $400 million of 'their' money. Also named in the Feds' Tuesday claim are CEO Ray Bitar and Rafael Furst. Read more on Forbes.
photo from 2010 WSOP event 40 day 2
to be continued...
