Home / Poker News October 2011 / The Poker Grapevine – Ray Bitar Strikes Back
The Poker Grapevine – Ray Bitar Strikes Back
Posted by: Randy Williams - Sun, 2011-10-02 15:28
Full Tilt Poker’s Raymond Bitar was one of the people singled out in the Black Friday indictments, and he has since been considered one of the main culprits in the Full Tilt Poker ordeal.
Bitar didn’t really make headlines in the wake of the indictments: he laid low for some reason, and let the attorneys representing the site do the talking on Full Tilt’s behalf.
Now that news of the company’s imminent acquisition by a major French business group have emerged, Bitar has swung into action too. Apparently on a mission to clear his name and to grab on to whatever equity he has in the operation, he has filed a claim against the US DoJ’s forfeiture allegations.
His claim is based on a part of the Federal Rules for Civil Procedure, namely the Rule G of the Supplemental Rules for Admiralty and Maritime Claims. If you were wondering what anything maritime-related has anything to do with
Full Tilt Poker, ponder no further: the above said law also governs commercial activities that are wholly land based but are maritime in character.
The law went into effect in December 2006, and it governs civil asset forfeiture in federal courts.
According to his claim, Bitar has legal ownership in the various companies named in the Black Friday indictments. He is also the owner of the domains that the government is about to forfeit.
The bottom line is that through his claim, Bitar attacks the government’s forfeiture allegations. He claims that the properties covered in his claim were neither the results nor the instruments of any sort of illegal or criminal activity in any US jurisdiction.
Exactly how Bitar’s claim will affect the already ongoing negotiations with Bernard Tapie Group isn’t clear, although it’s probably not a positive development for players hoping to recover their monies.
