Tapie chasing up to US$20m owed to FTP
Phil Ivey among players who owe money and have, as yet, shown no willingness to pay.
Groupe Bernard Tapie (GBT) is seeking between US$10m and $20m owed to Full Tilt Poker from a number of players.
Speaking to Pokerstrategy.com, GBT lawyer Behnam Dayanim named six players: Phil Ivey, Layne Flack, David Benyamine, Erick Lindgren, Barry Greenstein and Mike Matusow, noting that the latter two, as well as some others, “owe a smaller but still significant amount.”
Dayanim added that “If the money doesn’t come in, it creates a serious obstacle to completion of the deal. This isn’t the only issue with the takeover, and the deal won’t end on any one issue “ but this is a substantial item.”
He also clarified that “GBT doesn’t want to acquire assets which will need to be litigated over later.”
Last night Greenstein confirmed that he has received correspondence from representatives from GBT over the $382,000 owed by him personally, adding that “Their attorney offered me the opportunity to pay in installments so I could have a chance to use money owed to me…[and]…offered me the opportunity to discount my debt if the US players don’t get paid in full.”
However the player, who is sponsored by PokerStars and admits to borrowing the money to play in high-stakes games at FTP, added in a later comment on the Two Plus Two poker forum that part of the reason he is yet to commit to repayment of the debt is: “I owe the money to Full Tilt not GBT. If I had borrowed from GBT, I wouldn’t have an argument about not paying them back.”
Ivey (pictured), meanwhile brought a lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker in June, saying “My name and reputation have been dragged through the mud, through the inactivity and indecision of others.”
A FTP spokesperson was quick to criticise Ivey’s actions as “sanctimonius”, adding that “Mr Ivey has been invited “ and has declined “ to take actions that could assist the company in these efforts, including paying back a large sum of money he owes the site.” Ivey’s lawsuit has since been dropped.
Ivey, Matusow and Lindgren were among the members of Team Full Tilt dismissed from a class action suit against the company and its senior pros earlier this week.
(photo: Ralph Unden)