Ray Bitar Full Tilt Poker
Ray Bitar, the former Full Tilt Poker CEO who was able to avoid prison time thanks to heart issues, apparently married late last year, according to various media reports. Wedding pictures of Bitar and his wife were circulating the Internet Thursday.
Ray Bitar Full Tilt Poker Table
Ray Bitar, co-founder of Full Tilt Poker, said to be penniless and dying Take a step back in time to April of 2011, when the US Department of Justice cracked down on major US-facing online poker sites in the unsealing of indictments that became known as Black Friday. Unlike Lederer, Hamilton and others, one person who did for a time look like he might face some repercussions is former Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar. He was indicted on five counts for his role in Full Tilt’s illegal operations in the U.S. And, at one time, was looking down the barrel of a potential 145 years in jail. Disgraced Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar finally had his day in court, and he got about as light of a punishment as he could’ve hoped for. Bitar was credited with “time served” before sentencing and won’t have to do any more jail time. The reason why is because he needs a. Ray Bitar, founder and CEO of Full Tilt Poker, surrendered to United States law enforcement officials Monday more than year after being charged with “bank fraud, money laundering, and illegal.
Bitar pleaded guilty in April 2013 to violation of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud. He had been facing decades in prison.
The Department of Justice once called Full Tilt Poker a “global Ponzi scheme” after it left more than a million poker players without access to their funds. In his sentencing, Bitar admitted that “safe and secure” was a bogus phrase to describe player funds.
The judge in the case spared him prison because he needed a heart transplant, saying that Bitar going behind bars could be a “death sentence.” Bitar forfeited $40 million to the government as part of his plea deal, which did not include admitting to stealing from former customers of the site.
Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson and Rafe Furst, the other men in charge of the company when it defrauded poker players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, all avoided prison time as well. They didn’t admit to any wrongdoing. Bitar was the only one of them to be criminally charged.
Lederer has been seen in poker tournaments since resolving his case, while Ferguson and Furst have remained away from poker. Ferguson is a former WSOP main event champion.
Another important figure in the Black Friday indictments wasn’t sent to prison and apparently has resumed a luxurious lifestyle. Australian businessman Daniel Tzvetkoff, who helped the feds in the case against Full Tilt and PokerStars, has returned to the business world in his home country.
Full Tilt Poker Ray Bitar
In the years since the major poker sites left American cyberspace, just three states have gone forward and regulated sites for residents within their respective borders, leaving many poker players still waiting for an online poker comeback in the U.S.