Judge finds in favour of Full Tilt pros in RICO suit
All claims against individual defendants dismissed by Judge Leonard B Sand, although case against corporate defendants continues.
A number of the charges brought against Full Tilt Poker and a number of Team Full Tilt pros in last year’s RICO suit have been dismissed by presiding judge Leonard B Sand.
Originally brought by Steve Segal, Todd Terry, Nick Hammer and Robin Hougdahl last June, the lawsuit saw the four American players pursue a case on behalf of “a nation-wide class of Full Tilt account holders residing in the United States.”
It named several members of ‘Team Full Tilt’ including Tiltware board members Howard Lederer and Chris Ferguson, as well as several companies associated with the operator.
The majority of the defendants were represented by Ifrah Law PLLC, the firm which secured the various dismissals. Of the remaining individuals, Phil Gordon had already secured a dismissal last July after being found to have “Never participated in any management decisions or operational roles at Full Tilt.”
Also named were CEO Ray Bitar and head of payments Nelson Burtnick, two of the individuals named in the Black Friday indictments, although they – along with Team Full Tilt pros Gus Hansen and Patrik Antonius – were not included in the motion to dismiss.
The court found that the plaintiffs “[H]ave not met their burden of making out legally sufficient allegations of jurisdiction” against a number of defendants, although it conceded that the company and its website has “transacted business” in the state of New York by virtue of offering its services to players within the Empire State.
Consequently the “lack of personal jurisdiction” claim within the corporate defendants’ (i.e. companies including Pocket Kings, Pocket Kings Consulting, Tiltware, Filco and Vantage) was denied, although the comparable allegations, when applied to the individual defendants, were deemed “insufficient to establish jurisdiction” under the relevant legislation.
However the corporate defendants were able to obtain dismissal from all RICO claims, although plaintiffs have been granted leave to revise the conversion claim, “to better detail the role that Tiltware and Pocket Kings Consulting played in the alleged conversion.” The case against the corporate defendants will therefore continue.
While other class action suits from different parties are still active, Jeff Ifrah of Ifrah Law said: “The Court’s decision recognizes that relief for the players is being pursued by the United States. There is no compelling basis to open additional doors for private class action lawyers to pursue that very same relief.”