You are assuming that Lederer (and Ferguson) managed the day-to-day operations of the company and knew about the financial details. According to both of them, they turned it over to the other two guys to run the company finances and Lederer and Ferguson did not know about any financial problems.

One can clearly say that there was gross negligence by Lederer and Ferguson in turning the company operations over to someone who was not properly supervised or properly audited, but there is no evidence yet that Lederer or Ferguson knowingly committed or knew about any financial irregularities. Maybe that will change if more info is made available, but so far it is appears to be the case that neither Lederer nor Ferguson where running the company operations as hands-on managers.

would never disagree with the great dane

How is there no poll with this thread. And remember HL throws baller parties.

hes admitted to most of that . I guess its a rumor.lmao

I dont know

But that doesn't change what happened or what he did or didn't do,

I hate everybody.

I'm pretty sure the poker community was upset before Daniel or Jason said anything publicly...

Seems like a +ev move for a player representing the new FT.

To people saying Bush didn't use UIGEA to go after sites, you do realize how long the operation behind BF took right? Didn't it take 10+ years? The DoJ literally set up their own processing company, used time to create credibility in the industry, and then eventually used what they learned serving Stars/FTP/UB to indict them. That along with the plea deal with that one guy who robbed the processor was the main reason they ended up indicting, not because the DoJ under Bush was going to ignore and not prosecute companies for violating the UIGEA. That said it's the same guy in charge of the SDNY DoJ under Obama who was under Bush, it didn't really matter which side was in charge BF was going to happen.

I didn't know the bit about DoJ setting up its own processor in a "sting" operation. Where did you get the details about that, got a link?

Here's one thing we know, because Howard told us himself:

He knew that FT didn't have the funds to cover player deposits post-BF and yet he continued to accept deposits from new players.

This is just wrong. They knew about the financial problems before BF and kept accepting new deposits post-BF.

if howard didn't want to be so hated he could have shown some respect to American players. he could have said since americans have not been paid yet , out of respect to them ill wait till they get there funds from doj before I play live in vegas. he could have said im truly sorry for being asleep at the wheel or lack of oversight in company. then maybe I would feel different , but he has done none of these just the opposite . he has just denied and shown nothing but disrespect for every player who played on there. he still has a chance to do right thing , but knowing howard I doubt it. he has not gave me 1 reason to say you know what he got a bad rap or lets give him a chance. I would also fire your pr firm of deweey , hateum, and howe.

When you say "they" who are you referring to? Do you mean Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick who were the real men running FTP and the only ones at FTP who were charged with crimes by the US DOJ?

As far as I know, Chris Ferguson and Howard Lederer are not facing any criminal charges (unlike Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick). Also, Howard Lederer has settled the civil suit with the US Government without having to admit any wrong-doing.

This.

It's like there's some sort of huge marketing push for Howard with all the "people don't know" comments and opinions floating around the poker community.

Can we put that view to rest finally? He admits he knew about the shortfall in April, yet they continued taking deposits for months and putting millions of new player dollars at risk with full knowledge of the situation.

Of course Ray has more blame from what we know, but even if you want to believe everything Howard says about the timeline of information he had, there's plenty of reason for people to dislike the man and feel he did a very scummy thing to thousands of players depositing new money onto the site.

I think Lederer is not able say very much about this on the (correct) advice of his attorney. Same for Ferguson. Even though Lederer apparently faces no criminal charges, and has settled the civil suit with the US government without having to admit any wrong-doing, if he admitted even poor management or poor oversight (as opposed to fraud), he would face civil lawsuits from US customers (such lawsuits are probably in the works right now).

I am certainly not saying Lederer and Ferguson are blameless, but the question is are they guilty of fraud, or just bad management and bad oversight of the company. I also think that the two people charged by the US government of crimes (Ray Bitar and Nelson Burtnick), are probably guilty of fraud.

In before Mercier hits fantasy land vs deeb

This is nonsense. First, remember that the law applies to all gambling, and not just online poker. Bush did not go after online Poker (unlike Obama).

All of the US Attorneys resign when a new president is elected and are replaced by appointments of the new President. Even if one was rehired, they work at the direction of the US Attorney General, who is a political appointee of the President.

The whole thing about illegal online poker was started by a 60 Minutes story on CBS, which was the only major network who did not profit from Poker. Disney (ESPN/ABC) and NBC were making millions on poker TV shows, which indirectly got money from online Poker.

your right his lawyer told him do not say your truly sorry or show any respect to former ftp players who still haven't got paid yet , by playing live. I think if he says im sorry he could of done things better and out of respect to players who have not received funds , he will not play till there made whole, would go along way into people not feeling the amount of hate they do. hes went out of his way to make things worse and players even more mad.

According to news reports, Poker Stars paid $731 million for Full Tilt Poker. Hard to believe that they would pay that much if the company was insolvent (but I don't claim to know all the facts)

Here is the news story from ESPN website:

"Online poker operator PokerStars has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to obtain control of former industry rival Full Tilt Poker for approximately $731 million, according to government documents.

According to the documentation, PokerStars will forfeit $547 million to the government, while Full Tilt Poker will forfeit virtually all of its assets to the goverment, which will in turn give those assets to PokerStars.

Under the terms of the PokerStars settlement agreement, PokerStars will return $184 million (the full amount owed) to foreign players by Full Tilt Poker. American players will be able to file claims with the Department of Justice to get reimbursed. The money that is used to reimburse victims in the United States will come from the forfeited $547 million."
http://espn.go.com/poker/story/_/id/...ull-tilt-poker

I am assuming that the board of directors of FTP had something to do with this settlement that made sure that everyone will get paid.

/thread imo. wp.

Roger_888, since you continue to spew misinformation, I'll placate you once more:

UGIEA applies to banks and other financial institutions ONLY. In fact, I'll ship you $1,000 on Juicy right now if you can quote ANY section of UGIEA that applies to players... (I suggest re-reading the entire bill again before replying).

owned

/thread