Posted on 09/21/2011 12:21:45 PM PDT by raccoonradio
Thousands of campaign donations received by U.S. Rep. Barney Frank from three Full Tilt Poker stars allegedly involved in a Ponzi scheme to defraud online players will be set aside to compensate victims, according to Harry Gural, Frank’s spokesman.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara yesterday alleged that Full Tilt took money from players and paid out more than $440 million to board members and owners, including at least three men, Howard Lederer, Rafael Furst and Craig Ferguson, who have donated to Frank’s election campaign.
Frank (D-Newton) has been one of the most vocal congressional supporters of legalizing online gaming and has received tens of thousands of campaign contributions from online poker players, owners and lobbyists.
Gural said Frank’s office is waiting to see if the Justice Department will set up a fund to compensate victims, and if it does, the money will go there.
Following the U.S. attorney’s initial poker crackdown in April, Frank remained a supporter of the online players, reportedly telling an interviewer that Bharara’s actions were “an incredible waste of resources.”
bttt
Saying he is going to do it is one thing. Doing it is another.
that from the pok-her players he will gladly return...that, however, from the pok-him players....nyet!!!
He should be investigated, charged, indicted, prosecuted, forced to resign from the HOR, convicted and sent to jail, not necessarily in that order.
His sister, Annie Duke, was a finalist on Donald Trump's second Celebrity Apprentice, against winner Joan Rivers. Rivers said of Duke in the final, "You're a poker player. You're worse than Hitler!"
Lederer's father is Richard Lederer. Richard Lederer was a regular monthly guest on the KSFO Morning Show with Lee Rodgers. Lederer was the Word Man, taking calls from listeners on the origins of words, cliches, slang, and proper uses.
-PJ
Please don’t use the words “poker” or “poke” regarding Barney Frank. The image of him bending over will make you hurl.
Please don’t use the words “poker” or “poke” regarding Barney Frank. The image of him bending over will make you hurl.
Please don’t use the words “poker” or “poke” regarding Barney Frank. The image of him bending over will make you hurl.
computer problems. Sorry.
Fowwowing the U.S. attorney’s initial pokew cwackdown in April, Fwank wemained a supporter of the onwine pwayers,weportedly tewwing an interviewer that
Bhawawa’s actions wewr “an incwedible waste of wesources.
Yes I saw that name Lederer and thought, wonder if any relation to Richard Lederer who wrote “Anguished English”
and did various talk show appearances? Orig. from Manchester NH I think. Things like: the couple overseas who named their daughter after an English word they’d heard because it sounded beautiful: Diarrhea. Or various misunderstandings
due to improper usage, and things like why do we park in a driveway and drive on a parkway, etc. Or Mr Spooner who inspired the Spoonerism: Is this pie occupewed? May I sew you to another sheet...Our queer old Dean...(The Capitol Steps do their own spoonerism routine, Lirty Dies and Scicious Vandals. You just whip your flirds, see?)
Anyway, used to have that book about 20 yrs back.
Does it bother anyone else that when a Poker company holds 60 million in reserve to cover 400 million in customer deposits it’s called a ponzi scheme, but when Citibank does it we call it “fractional reserves?”
Putting aside the legalities of online poker, it is customary for a poker house to keep players funds in a separate account from “poker house” funds. When poker house deals a hand, they either charge the players an hourly fee (rare these days) or take a small amount out of each pot to cover expenses. That amount is called the rake.
Obviously the reason poker player money is kept separate is in case all the players cash out at once, or even one big winner, the poker company should be able to pay on the spot. Clearly some of these places believed that money deposited by players would eventually get eaten by the rake (they had statistics on that, as well as who was likely to cash out and who would play win or lose) so they felt safe comingling the money. Only when the DOJ figured out how to crack them down (stole their domain names) did the DOJ stop US players and in the case of Full Tilt, broke the bank in the process because of all the Americans seeking cash out at once.
They ultimately “embezzled” $440 million though I am not sure if that includes money they earned over the years from the rake - I think it does. Anyway, that they did this so brazenly makes me wonder whether they also employed robots, or rigged the software to “steal” from poker players. Not one poker site every agreed to allow outside audit, nor did they publish their hand history to prove that it was truly random.
Frank has been a long time Poker proponent. He wants to legalize poker online and tax it - like a good liberal. But since these sites were overseas, licenses overseas, and illegally (in their country of license) funneled foreign money from players around the world to these American owners - it is important he return the money fast. I wonder what kind of charges we can level at Frank?
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