Howard Lederer said to be "partying in Vegas" over the FTP sale to Stars
http://www.pokerplayernewspaper.com/...-america-12334
Quote:
Howard Lederer, on the other hand, is not indicted. He is said to be in Las Vegas, most recently partying at his house with friends after FTP’s settlement with the DOJ. According to lawyers familiar with the DOJ’s seizures, Lederer’s resources have been little touched by the Government in the FTP matters. The smart money around the US Courthouse in New York is betting big that Lederer’s, Ferguson’s, and Furst’s current worries with the Government in this matter are probably limited to the DOJ’s efforts to impose substantial financial penalties to settle the individual civil charges against them. These same commentators express confidence that Lederer, Ferguson and Furst will avoid more serious consequences from these matters.
In discussing FTP’s woes of the past year, many of Lederer’s friends and former associates emphasize that Bitar handled day to day management matters as the ship was going down. Lederer announced some years ago that he had given up day to day FTP management duties, but reportedly returned to an active role during the company’s darkest days, these past few months--purportedly to help steer the company toward a deal that will see players reunited with their funds.
Meanwhile, Lederer’s allies complain that he has been effectively and unfairly ostracized from the poker world, and they seek to help him rehabilitate his image. They demand anonymity in this article, but they are becoming increasingly vocal in this effort.
Lederer friends note he was the one player with an outstanding loan to FTP who made a substantial repayment without any prodding and prior to the embarrassing revelations of uncollectible player debt by Group Bernard Tapie during that company’s discussions of a possible deal to acquire FTP’s assets. Nobody, however, suggests that Lederer offered up any of his distributions to go back to FTP customers to repay their losses.
:facepalm
Are you kidding me?
Unfairly ostracized?
0% chance that Howard didn't know what was going on with Full Tilt's finances, even if he really did "hand over day to day operations" to Bitar.
Besides, why was Bitar still in control for a year after Black Friday, if Lederer is really such a good guy who got screwed by Bitar?
I really hope that Howard never worms his way back into poker's good graces after people get their money back.
