In what may be the beginning of the endgame regarding the actions of “Black Friday,” poker professional Rafe Furst has settled his civil complaint with the U. S. Department of Justice’s Southern District of New York offices.
In documents filed yesterday by the Department of Justice, the announced settlement came through a company that Furst allegedly was the head of, Telamonian Ajax Trust. That company had seen its assets seized back in September when the Department of Justice amended its “Black Friday” complaint to add in Furst and fellow former Full Tilt Poker board members Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson. With the settlement came no admission of guilt by Furst or Telamonian, but there were significant financial penalties handed out.
As a part of that amended complaint from last September, the federal government was looking for civil forfeiture of funds amounting to over $11 million from Furst. The bank accounts which Telamonian had were in Switzerland and were seized by the government, but there was nothing in the settlement papers to indicate just how much money Furst will lose from that company. In addition to those funds, Furst will also pay a fine of $150,000 through a payment system to be set up with the Southern District of New York.
In addition to the financial penalties, there are other provisions in the settlement that go beyond just punishing Furst with dollar signs. As a part of the agreement, Furst has agreed not to “work for, or derive money from, either directly or indirectly, through the operation of any internet gambling business in the United States, including businesses offering internet poker.” The prohibition on Furst’s involvement with an online gaming operation will be until the United States government passes the appropriate laws regarding online gaming and Furst can clear the necessary hurdles of licensing and regulation, something that may be difficult now with a settlement in an online gaming case against him.
Once Furst completes the payment of the $150,000 fine, the Department of Justice stated in the settlement that the charges would be “dismissed with prejudice,” which means that Furst will not be able to file a court case regarding the settlement but that the September amendment would be considered a “final judgment.”
At this time, there are no indications what Furst, a World Series of Poker bracelet winner in 2006, will do in the future regarding the game.
This may just be the first domino to fall in the sordid Full Tilt Poker saga. Furst’s former Full Tilt Poker partners, Lederer and Ferguson, still have ongoing legal issues of their own regarding the September amended “Black Friday” case. The Department of Justice is still pursuing nine charges against both men, requesting over $42 million in penalties from Lederer and a similar amount ($42 million) from Ferguson. But, unlike Furst, the duo seems to be attempting to fight it out in the court system rather than pay off the government to end the case.
Earlier this month, Lederer’s attorneys filed a motion for dismissal of the charges against him, with Ferguson’s attorneys joining in on the petition. In that particular document, Lederer’s attorneys assert that the federal government hasn’t spelled out what part Lederer (or Ferguson) had in the operation of Full Tilt Poker. With that in mind, Lederer’s attorneys have requested a dismissal in the case and a stop to forfeiture proceedings regarding Lederer’s property, which the government claims was bought using the funds from Full Tilt Poker and therefore is a seizable asset.
There is no current news on the other player in the Full Tilt story, former Chief Executive Officer Ray Bitar. After returning from exile in Ireland earlier this year, Bitar was immediately arrested and charged with his alleged “Black Friday” crimes. After making bail, he has been on house arrest in California, with severe restrictions on his ability to travel, until his case comes to trial in New York.
With Furst’s settlement, the Full Tilt saga may be coming to a close. But it still will be a long, ugly process until the subject is finally swept away into the annals of poker history…on the dark side of said history.
