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Federal prosecutors have accused executives of Full Tilt Poker, including Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, of operating a large Ponzi scheme whereupon 440 million dollars was siphoned off from the players accounts to pay the top management.
Full Tilt Poker, previously one of the largest online poker sites, was known for it's long list of noted poker professionals and celebrities that endorsed it.
The complaint includes Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, notable poker professionals and says that they "defrauded players by misrepresenting that their funds on deposit in online gambling accounts were safe, secure, and available for withdrawal at any time."
"In reality, Full Tilt Poker did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all players, and in addition, the company used player funds to pay board members and other owners more than $440 million since April 2007,"
The former online poker giant was shut down by the Department of Justice several months ago, and still has not paid back many American players who's accounts were locked. The prosecutors are claiming that the company spent the player's money and siphoned off several million for its executives, including Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson.
Over 440 million was paid to the Full Tilt Poker Executives since 2007, including 42 million to Hoaward Lederer and 12 million to Rafe Furst.
The executives are being accused of money laundering which would include forfeiture of the profit gained from the operation.
Professional poker player and AllVegasPoker.com President Jon Friedberg said "I have no problem with executives/owners paying themselves millions of $$ when the business is worth billions, but there's literally no excuse why they were paying themselves out of the player deposit funds."
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