The Department of Justice has approved the first round of payments to former customers of Absolute Poker and sister site Ultimate Bet. The feds said in April that it would begin compensating victims of the defunct poker sites that were based overseas.
Garden City Group, the third party involved in facilitating what is known as the remission process, said that the distribution “will include payments to approximately 7,400 petitioners with awards totaling almost $33.5 million.”
The deadline for the first wave of payments was in June. Poker players still have until Sept. 7 to file a claim, which appears to be the final deadline.
Absolute Poker, founded in 2003, made some $500 million from Americans during its run. About $60 million worth of player money was lost when the site shut down.
Payments will be made via electronic ACH to U.S. residents and via foreign currency check to those outside of America. If a foreign currency check cannot be issued, the payment will be made via USD check or foreign currency wire depending on the country.
GCG said that it is sending emails to all approved petitioners that contains the amount and method of their payment, as well as instructions for submitting the necessary banking info.
Some former players “were identified as having a delinquent debt qualifying for collection” through the Treasury Offset Program. Money owed will be taken out of the poker payments.
The U.S. government obtained enough money through settlements stemming from Black Friday, which also ensnared PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, to repay players owed money.
About $118 million was returned to former FTP customers through a separate remission process.
Content Credits: http://www.cardplayer.com/
