US players will likely pay a fee on Full Tilt withdrawal

Just when I had thought I’d seen it all when it came to governmental waste, bureaucratic nonsense, and unnecessary red tape along comes today’s news on the PokerStars/Full Tilt Poker/Department of Justice deal that the US DOJ will be hiring a third-party payment processor to handle the remission process for US players.

At the Justice.gov website the DOJ has posted an employment opportunity for payment processors interested in handling the payments to US online poker players as part of the Full Tilt Poker remission process! Amazingly, this is a job that PokerStars was not only able to take care of (without having to pass on the fees to the players like the DOJ will likely do) but the site was willing to handle the repayment of US player funds.

Among the stipulations for the job, the DOJ wants to know of any prior links with online poker sites (as if a payment processor that has worked with online poker sites post UIGEA will apply for the job and disclose this information) as well as a projection of the total fees associated with the repayment of up to 1.3 million US players.

The PPA was quick to try to nip this potential problem in the bud, sending out a letter last week offering their assistance to the DOJ to make the transactions as simple and cheap for the players as possible. PPA Board Member and 2004 World Series of Poker Main Event Champion Greg Raymer stated, “The PPA is there to make sure [processing] fees are minimal for the player,” Raymer went on to say, “Some [company] is certainly going to make some money. The DOJ isn’t a payment processing company.”

Here is a look at the job listing at the Justice.gov website:

Monitors, Receivers, Claims Administrators

In connection with its criminal and civil enforcement efforts, the United States Attorney’s Office occasionally selects, or participates in the selection of, monitors, receivers, special masters, claims administrators, and similar appointments. In some instances, depending on the circumstances and exigencies of the case, the United States Attorney’s Office will solicit applications for such positions. Cases (if any) in which we are currently soliciting applications are listed below.

Claims Administrator—Full Tilt Poker
The Government is soliciting applications from qualified persons to serve, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. §9.9(c), as Claims Administrator in connection with the remission to U.S. victims of funds forfeited via court-approved settlements in United States v. Pokerstars et al., 11 Civ. 2564 (LBS). At present the Government estimates there are approximately 1.3 million potential U.S. victims, and that approximately $159 million of forfeited funds (less expenses of administration) is immediately available for distribution via the remission process. In consultation with the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the United States Department of Justice, the Claims Administrator will design and execute a process to solicit, receive and evaluate claims, and to process payments, for losses incurred by U.S. victims that are attributable to the fraud alleged in the above complaint. In so doing the Claims Administrator will obtain and evaluate information, such as financial transaction records, from claimants, and analyze information contained in user account records provided in database and other format by Full Tilt Poker. Interested parties may submit an Application by August 31, 2012, to Sharon Levin, Chief of the Asset Forfeiture Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, at [email protected].