DoJ appoints Full Tilt claims administrator
Garden City Group tasked with handling repayment claims from the operator's former US players.
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has named New York-based Garden City Group as the claims administrator overseeing the repayment of Full Tilt Poker’s US player funds.
The appointment comes more than seven months after PokerStars’ agreement with the DoJ to acquire selected assets of Full Tilt and repay its former rival’s non-US players, and two months after the justice department’s estimated date.
Preet Bharara, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement: “The Garden City Group brings a track record of handling the administration of some of the country’s largest and most complicated settlements.
“With their selection, we take a significant step forward in the process of compensating victims of the Full Tilt Poker scheme,” he added.
Garden City Group, which has more than 1,000 employees, is headquartered in New York and has regional offices in several other US states.
In addition to the Full Tilt responsibility, GCG has been involved in the Gulf Coast Claims Facility, pertaining to victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, and numerous other cases.
The company describes itself as “The recognised leader in legal administration services for class action settlements, bankruptcy cases and legal noticing programs.”
Affected players will be able to receive updates on the claims procedure via the www.fulltiltpokerclaims.com website, however specific information is not yet available.
Full Tilt Poker shut down its US-facing operations as part of a domain return agreement with US authorities following the indictment of CEO Ray Bitar and head of payments Nelson Burtnick – as well as nine other individuals – in April 2011. PokerStars relaunched the brand in November 2012 following last July’s acquisition agreement.
A further indictment against Bitar and Burtnick was unsealed last summer, with Burtnick pleading guilty in September.
Bitar has pleaded not guilty, however proceedings against him “remain pending” according to the SDNY, amid reports of the former CEO’s health issues delaying the progress of the case.