In the poker story that never dies, the Aldernay Gambling Control Commission released their decision from the recently concluded hearing into Full Tilt Poker, and the decision is not good news for Full Tilt or the rest of the poker community.

The AGCC released two statements this morning, the first was a basic press release outlining their decision, followed by a far more detailed 26-page document detailing the specific charges and finding by the AGCC.

Amongst the more notable findings by the AGCC were:

• Full Tilt Poker issued false financial statements to the AGCC –including seized funds and the eCheck shortfall as cash on hand

• Full Tilt poker was not authorized to offer players “credit” which it did by not immediately processing eCheck payments

• Full Tilt Poker guaranteed to cover all player deposits – “”The Company will ensure that, at all times, there are sufficient funds in this account to cover all balances held by the company on behalf of its customers. The Company confirms that this account is not used as a security for any other operational liability”.

• One subsidy of Full Tilt Poker, Orinic Limited, avoided having their license revoked, and their AGCC license remains suspended

Here is a look at the press release issued by the AGCC along with a link to the more detailed findings:

AGCC Commissioners, sitting as a tribunal, have today revoked the licences of Vantage Limited, Filco Limited and Oxalic Limited, trading as Full Tilt Poker (FTP), with immediate effect. This follows the earlier suspension of the licences on 29th June 2011.

At a hearing held in London over six days, it emerged that FTP had fundamentally misled AGCC about their operational integrity by continuously reporting as liquid funds balances that had been covertly seized or restrained by US authorities, or that were otherwise not actually available to the operator. Serious breaches of AGCC regulations include false reporting, unauthorised provision of credit, and failure to report material events.

At the commencement of these proceedings on 26th July AGCC made clear its preference to hold the hearing in public, to the benefit of players and media alike. However, the tribunal was persuaded that the hearing should be held in camera on the basis of claims by FTP that this would maximise the chance of a commercial rescue of the business for the benefit of players. For this reason an adjournment of 54 days was allowed.

It is important to note that the revocation of FTP’s licences does not, as has been suggested, prevent a reactivation of the business under new ownership and management. Unresolved claims by players against FTP become a matter for the police and civil authorities. Now that FTP’s licences have been revoked, AGCC no longer has jurisdiction over these companies.

The licence of Orinic Limited, a recently added geographic sub-division of the FTP poker room, remains suspended.

The determination notice containing the decision of the Commissioners and reasons for it is available at http://www.gamblingcontrol.org/userfiles/file/Determination%20Notice%20290911.pdf

Tags: Agcc, Authorities, Breaches, False Financial Statements, Full tilt Poker, Gambling Control, Limited, Liquid Funds, London, Operational Integrity, Page Document, Poker Story, Press Release, Provision, Shortfall, Six Days, Subsidy, Tribunal, Vantage

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 29th, 2011 at 11:03 am and is filed under Poker News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.