Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp
Daniel Negreanu’s vitriol directed at former Full Tilt Poker owner Howard Lederer was back in action Sunday morning. Negreanu expressed sentiment that has been at times visible in cyberspace since the Department of Justice called Full Tilt a “global Ponzi scheme” last year.
Goodmagicstore.com Poker Fantasy Reality by Howard Lederer abk69740912 - In September 2004， Howard hosted 200 camp participants at his Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas. Joining Howard to educate， entertain and challenge the camp participants were Matt Savage， Phil Gordon， Chris Ferguson， Erik Seidel， Annie Duke and Gus Hansen. Lederer is regarded as one of the best poker players in the world today.He has made an instructional poker video called Secrets of No Limit Hold’em and he runs the Howard Lederer Poker Fantasy Camp. He also co-hosts Poker Superstars and Learn from the Pros for the Fox Broadcasting Company.
Right after citing a Pokerfuse article that highlighted an apparent inconsistency in Lederer’s recent interview statements, Negreanu remarked publicly to his 202,000 followers:
The more research you do, the more obvious it becomes that justice will only be served if Howard Lederer goes to prison.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 14, 2012
While Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst face civil litigation from the government, Ray Bitar, the former CEO of the firm, faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the charges against him. The first three men are accused of being involved with the fraud and could forfeit millions to the DoJ, but they aren’t looking at any possible jail time for their alleged roles.
In September 2011, Card Player asked Dr. Henry Pontell, a white-collar crime expert at the University of California, Irvine, about accused Ponzi schemers not facing criminal charges.
“I’ve never heard of a ‘non-criminal Ponzi scheme’ before, but that doesn’t mean that it couldn’t possibly exist,” Pontell said. “Civil charges may be filed where there’s not enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. Ponzi is a descriptive and pejorative term, but it’s really about a specific charge for fraud — criminal or civil.”
The complaint implicating Lederer was amended last month, as the government detailed where it says player money went. Prosecutors also tacked on more accusations of unlawful activity perpetrated by Lederer. He could lose his multimillion-dollar Las Vegas mansion, one of a handful of his properties purchased with alleged-fraud money.
Altogether, Lederer is potentially on the hook for about $42.5 million worth of assets that the feds say are “traceable” to illegal activities in running Full Tilt.
According to a court document, attorneys for Lederer, Ferguson and Furst plan to seek dismissal of the government’s most recent amended complaint against them. The defendants have until Nov. 16, 2012 to file the motion. Prosecutors have until Dec. 21 to reply, and then the defendants have a deadline of Jan. 11, 2013 to respond.
Negreanu’s Tweet sparked more than 40 Retweets and garnered a handful of responses, one of which was from poker pro Todd Terry, who is part of a class-action lawsuit filed this spring.
@toddbterry so much evidence against him I think it will happen at some point. He incriminates himself in Lederer Files its just bizarre.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) October 14, 2012
Card Player followed up with Terry, a former criminal defense attorney in New York City.
“It’s apparent that the [United States Attorneys’ Office] has made a decision, for whatever reason, not to indict Howard,” Terry said. “He could have been indicted on Black Friday and when they filed the amended civil complaint. It’s possible that his hubris filled [public relations] campaign will cause them to change their minds.”
“It’s also possible that one day Ray will start cooperating and give the feds evidence against him that they can’t ignore,” Terry added.
Despite the civil case and continued outcry from the poker community, Lederer returned to the poker tables this past week. He has been playing high-stakes poker with some of the players that the company once used to market and promote its brand.
Lederer has not been found responsible in a court of law for Full Tilt’s insolvency or failure to repay players after it was shutdown in American cyberspace on Black Friday.
While players outside the U.S. will be reunited with their money thanks to a bailout from PokerStars, American victims are still waiting to hear from the DoJ on how they can ask for compensation. The DoJ did not return Card Player’s request for an update this week.
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On Tuesday, nearly a year after the U.S. government accused poker player Howard Lederer of helping orchestrate Full Tilt Poker’s fraud, prosecutors have released details of where the player money went.
Howard Lederer 2014 Arrested
Lederer is on the hook for about $42.5 million worth of assets that the feds say are “traceable” to illegal activities in running Full Tilt. The penalty could cost him his $10.5 million Las Vegas, Nevada home that he built with Ponzi scheme money, according to an amended civil complaint. Altogether, he owns seven properties.
The document states that between about December 2006 and August 2011, Lederer had deposited millions into a “consulting” account, transferring monies along the way into his bank account at Wells Fargo.
Lederer, a two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner, was involved with what the Department of Justice says was a fraud totaling about $443 million. Right now, only CEO Ray Bitar is facing possible jail time. If convicted of a slew of financial crimes, Bitar could get life in prison. The government also released information on some of Bitar’s assets that it wants forfeited, including the California home where he’s currently being monitored electronically while awaiting trial.
Also facing the loss of assets, but no jail time, are Chris “Jesus” Ferguson ($42 million) and Rafe Furst ($11.7 million). The four individuals have been called “FTP Insiders Defendants” by the DOJ. They served as the company’s board of directors.
The DoJ also claims that Lederer wanted to retire on stolen Full Tilt player money. Lederer is accused of investing fraud money into pension plans and a 401K.
Even after Black Friday, Lederer allegedly continued to spend on luxury items. The DoJ says that in late June 2011, Lederer finished purchase of a 2012 Audi A8-L, worth about $150,000. About $33,000 was processed on his credit card around this time, the government says. It was one of a handful of high-end cars he bought over the years.
Full Tilt’s global operations were shut down by its overseas regulator on June 29, 2011.
Howard Lederer Scandal
In order to retrieve money, the government has cited crimes that it says were perpetrated while engaging in the web poker business, including bank and wire fraud and money laundering.
While the blame has fallen on board members Bitar, Lederer, Ferguson and Furst, the four only represented about 38 percent of Full Tilt ownership. Authorities say that about 19 other individuals, who are not named, received the rest of the hundreds of millions.
The complaint says that another owner was given about $40 million in distributions (about the same as Bitar, Lederer and Ferguson), as well as millions in loans.
Full Tilt is no longer in the hands of the men who are accused of destroying it. PokerStars acquired it this summer as part of its own settlement with the feds. PokerStars was booted from U.S. cyberspace as well, but unlike Full Tilt, wasn’t accused of fraud.
Follow Brian Pempus on Twitter — @brianpempus