Full Tilt CEO Granted Bail
A story from Forbes.com has recently announced the release of Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar. He was granted bail in New York City on Monday and is to return to California within this week. This will be his first time home in the U.S. for over a year. He will be monitored regularly and electronically.
Bitar has posted bail of $2.5 million in personal recognizance bond. He had reportedly added a warehouse that he owned to his bail money, which already included cash and some properties that he was pledging.
He has returned to the U.S. last week and was arrested immediately by the authorities. Bitar has been alleged to commit bank fraud, money laundering and running a ponzi scheme. Full Tilt customers accused him of defrauding them. Before his return to the U.S., he had been in Ireland since the time that the Black Friday occurred in spring of last year.
It was said in a leaked letter addressed to employees of Full Tilt that Bitar would be returning to the U.S. to give himself up to the authorities so they could expedite the process of paying back the customers of Full Tilt. Bitar was also reported to have mentioned on getting a deal done with PokerStars to buy Full Tilt.
Prosecutors have been reported to be working with Irish authorities to extradite Bitar to the U.S. For the past 15 months, the U.S. authorities have been trying to force out Full Tilt from the online gambling market, but Full Tilt has still failed to pay back its customers.