Full Tilt Poker illegally raided player accounts to fund operations and make lavish payments to its owners, Justice Department lawyers said in a revised civil lawsuit.The poker site had promised players that funds would be safe. But authorities say that the company had only $60 million left in its bank accounts to cover the $390 million it owed to players.
“Full Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Not only did the firm orchestrate a massive fraud against the U.S. banking system, as previously alleged, Full Tilt also cheated and abused its own players to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars."
In its revised lawsuit against Full Tilt Poker, U.S. DOJ lawyers said that even though the company had assured players that their accounts were separate from operating funds, the funds were commonly used for other purposes, including paying the company’s owners and board members.
