Former Employee of PokerStars Avoids Prison by Forfeiting Over $100,000

Paul Tate who is a former PokerStars employee forfeited $119,000.00 in what is being called a Black Friday Case, in order to avoid a prison sentencing on November 28, 2016.  Paul Tate entered a plea of guilty for the charge of operating a gambling business illegally within the United States.

Tate was not the only one who was arrested and charged, 11 other people were arrested during this Black Friday raid that focused on online poker gaming companies that are operating illegally within the United States.  The list of other poker companies that had online forums were also included, as well as Absolute Poker and Full Tilt that were also accused of money laundering.

In the year of 2006, congress placed a federal ban on companies that played for real money within the online gambling games. 

Paul Tate was the person who was in charge of processing the payments for PokerStars.  In October of this year Tate pleaded guilty to the charges.  Tate was looking at a total of five years within a state prison.  In the year of 2014, Tate left PokerStars at the same time as it was being attained by Amaya Inc.  Nine others that have also been charged have also plead guilty to the charges that they are facing.

Lewis Kaplan who is a United States District Judge ordered Tate to forfeit the money instead of doing time in prison.  Judge Kaplan stated that Tate had accepted the responsibility of his actions by staying in the U.S. for the charges instead of going to his home in the Isle of Man, where he actually could have avoided being extradited.

In the year of 2012 PokerStars also made a settlement of &731 million dollars.