THE DIRECTOR of an Irish-based firm has been accused in a fraud and money-laundering case US authorities have brought against executives of some of the world’s best-known internet poker companies.
Raymond Bitar (39), chief executive of Full Tilt Poker, and a director of Dublin-based Pocket Kings, has been accused of violating the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, introduced into US law in 2006.
The Act prohibits the transfer of money from US financial institutions to online gambling sites.
Pocket Kings employs some 700 staff at the Cherrywood Science and Technology Park. It established a base here in 2006 and provides functions such as IT support, fraud detection, marketing and customer services to Full Tilt Poker, which is licensed in Alderney, Channel Islands.
Some of the best-known names in poker are sponsored by Full Tilt Poker, which hosts some of the most lucrative online games.
Ten other executives from companies such as Pokerstars, which is based in the Isle of Man, and Absolute Poker, operating out of Costa Rica, as well as Nelson Burtnick of Full Tilt Poker, have also been cited in the case filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan.
It is seeking at least $3 billion (€2.08 billion) in forfeitures and penalties from those accused.
US attorney Preet Bharara brought the charges on Friday with indictments including charges of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling.
The indictment says the companies used fraudulent methods to avoid the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act and to receive billions of dollars from from US residents who gambled through the firms.
It accuses Mr Bitar of deceiving or directing others to deceive US banks and financial institutions into processing payments for Full Tilt Poker by arranging for payments to be disguised as transactions with non-existent online merchants and non-gambling firms.
The indictment says that, as of last month, Full Tilt Poker was the second-largest operator offering gambling on poker games to residents of the US.
It seeks the forfeiture of accounts in Allied Irish Banks, Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland (Ireland), Irish Permanent Treasury, National Irish Bank and Anglo Irish Bank in the names of Mr Bitar, Pocket Kings and Pocket Kings Consulting.
In a statement released by Full Tilt Poker, Mr Bitar said he was surprised and disappointed by the government’s decision to bring the charges. “I look forward to Mr Burtnick’s and my exoneration,” he said.
Full Tilt Poker argued that poker was a game of skill and that it believed online poker was legal, as did “some of the best legal minds in the United States”.
Accounts for Pocket Kings for last year show the company made an operating profit of €14.9 million, up from €2.7 million a year earlier. In February, Pocket Kings announced plans to recruit a further 100 staff for its Irish operation. “The accessibility to a skilled and educated workforce in Ireland along with an attractive corporation tax rate continues to be deciding factors in our decision to remain here,” it said.
Attempts to contact a Pocket Kings spokesperson were unsuccessful. A Full Tilt Poker spokeswoman said she had no comment.
