Earlier we reported on the motions of dismissal filed by three Full Tilt Poker owners who were indicted in a civil complaint in the months following Black Friday, Howard Lederer, Chris Ferguson, and Rafe Furst. On the same day PokerStars filed their own motion to dismiss, citing the same arguments made by the Full Tilt Poker owners.

The filing was introduced on Monday, just before the deadline for such filings, and was made by a PokerStars subsidiary called the Oldford Group and stated the following reasons for filing the motion to dismiss the civil forfeiture claims:

* The Gambling Allegations Are Too Vague and Speculative to Satisfy the Heightened Pleading Requirements Applicable to Forfeiture Actions

* The IGBA Does Not Apply to PokerStars’ Conduct Because the Statute Does Not Reach Overseas Activity

* Online Poker Does Not Constitute “Gambling” Under the IGBA

* Neither New York Gambling Law Nor the Gambling Laws of the “Other States” Alluded to by the Government Reach Overseas Activity

* The IGBA Forfeiture Allegations Also Should Be Dismissed Because the Complaint Does Not Allege Facts Demonstrating that the Property at Issue Is Subject to Forfeiture Under the IGBA

* The Complaint Impermissibly Seeks Forfeiture of Property Outside this Court’s Jurisdiction

* The Gambling Forfeiture Allegation Does Not Entitle the Government to Forfeiture of PokerStars’ Assets

* The Gambling Forfeiture Allegation Does Not Entitle the Government to the Funds in the Named Accounts

* The Statute of Limitations Precludes Forfeiture

In terms of the Fraud allegations the motion to dismiss stated:

* The Complaint Does Not Plead a Violation of the Wire and Bank Fraud Statutes

* The Complaint Fails to Properly Plead PokerStars’ Intent to Deceive

* The Complaint Does Not Demonstrate that PokerStars Engaged in a “Scheme to Defraud”

* The Fraud Forfeiture Allegations Also Fail Because the Funds Sought Are Not “Proceeds” of Any Violation of the Fraud Statutes

In terms of the money laundering allegations the motion to dismiss states:

* The Complaint Does Not Plead a Violation of the Money Laundering Statutes

* All of the Money Laundering Allegations Are Flawed Because They Merge Into the Alleged Underlying Offenses

* The Complaint Fails to Plead Promotional Money Laundering

* The Complaint Fails to Plead Concealment Money Laundering

* The Complaint Fails to Plead Criminal Property Money Laundering

* The Complaint Fails to Plead International Money Laundering

* The Money Laundering Forfeiture Allegations Also Should Be Dismissed for Failure to Allege That the Funds Were “Involved in” Money Laundering

You can find the entire motion to dismiss as well as the memorandum explaining PokerStars arguments (outlined above) you can find it here: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/new-york/nysdce/1:2011cv02564/377900/

 

Tags: Allegation, Assets, Bank Fraud, Black Friday, Chris Ferguson, Civil Case, Civil Complaint, Civil Forfeiture, Fr, Fraud Allegations, Full tilt Poker, Furst, Howard Lederer, Igba, Jurisdiction, Motions, Pleading, PokerStars, Proceeds, Statute Of Limitations

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2012 at 10:24 pm 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.