Quote:
Originally Posted by DoTheMath
This would all be true IF we were talking about players being compensated by FTP in bankruptcy, but we aren't. The plan is for the DoJ to compensate players, probably through a process called remission, and if the GBT deal goes through, the plan is for the DoJ to only have to compensate US players, while GBT compensates all the other players. GBT isn't buying the FTP companies, so under US law, at least, they won't have any general respnsibility for FTP's debts.
Under remission, the goverment compensates victms of a crime with money from the assets forfeited in relation to that crime. Secured creditors have an opportunity to put in a claim on assets, but AFAIK, that time has come and gone, and we don't have a long queue of lienholders claiming parts of FTP. Unsecured creditors who are not victims of a crime (and failure to pay debts is generally not a crime) are SOL. It would seem likely, however, that players will be seen as crime victims, not merely general creditors.
IF the GBT deal goes through, GBT will be playing out ROW players voluntarily. They will have no legal obligation to do so, beyond any contractual obligation they may have assumed in their deal with the DoJ for the purchase of certain forfeited assets.
IOW, under the process foreseen, the usual ranking of creditors in a bankruptcy will not apply, as we won't be using bankrupty proceedings to dole out FTP's assets.
Threre may be hiccups when it comes to the laws of certain European companies were there may be risk that the government or trade creditors may be able to tranfer a claim along with the transferred assets, but nobody here has a clear idea if that will happen. If it does, GBT could be on the hook for certain debts, or the DoJ may be unable to secure forfeiture of certain assets.
I spoke about bankruptcy proceedings because with all of the facts that I have gathered, I think that is more than likely where this is headed.
I'm curious about where you got some of your information to come to different proceedings. As far as I have known, the DOJ was not investigating FTP as a fraud case, but that their interest was solely tax related. It was not until they took over and had accountants look at the books that it was determined there was no money.
Once there was no money, it was reasoned by the poker community that it was all a giant Ponzi scheme. However, I have not seen any official DOJ documentation saying that their investigation aims have shifted, and it is now being investigated as a criminal enterprise, rather than just a tax evasion case.
If it is not being investigated as criminal fraud, the players will not be paid restitution. The business will just be determined to be a poorly run business, that made poor use of its customers deposits, similar to a bank that does not have FDIC, and the players will be SOL like I've said. If it is not criminally deemed, there will be no restitution paid out. In addition to this, I have not seen any Federal warrants for any of the FTP leaders or holders to indicate this has now become a fraud investigation. It isn't against the law to make millions while driving a company into the ground with poor management, which is overwhelmingly what this seems like, rather than a giant Fraud scam from the get go. To be fair, if the DOJ had not stepped in to investigate tax evasion a year ago, FTP would still be operating today, and people would still be able to make withdrawals and operate as they did for years and no one knew the better. Poorly run business by clueless people doesn't always mean criminal.
Also, if FTP is deemed to be a criminal operation, there is no way the DOJ would entertain GBT attempting to acquire it only a year later. I do think that they are trying to acquire the entire company, because that is Tapie's business. He doesn't acquire auctioned assets, he acquires bankrupt businesses, turns them back around, and sells them for massive profits. Their acquisition is contingent on the pros settling their debts, because GBT has said they are not willing to acquire and then sacrifice those lines of credit (basically the only ones that FTP has). Which is why they want the pros settled before they acquire. They are willing to take on the rest of the debts in the acquisition, they have said this. The only losses they are not willing to take are the pro's lines of credit.
I don't think GBT will acquire FTP. The problems between the pros not willing to settle their debts, and the DOJ being in the picture make it more work than it is worth. They expressed interest, which was a nice ray of hope, but I think eventually they will walk.
Not said in any of this, but just as important, is that now that the Feds have control of the situation, it may be 10 years before they wrap up. They move very slowly, because first, they are the government, and second, because they don't lose. Ever. If they sit on it for ten years, the only thing left will be bankruptcy when they release it to the wolves.
However out of all of this, I still think bankruptcy is where it is all headed, because that seems to be what the facts are steering toward.
