Party Poker Cofounder to Plead Guilty, Pay $300m Fine
From the Financial Times: Party Poker co-founder Anurag Dikshit will appear in the Southern District Court of New York Tuesday to plead guilty to violating the Wire Act, pay a $300,000,000 fine and cooperate with the Department of Justice in the hopes of avoiding a 2-year jail sentence.
Dikshit currently owns 27% of Party Gaming, but it appears he won’t have to divest his holdings in Party after pleading guilty. Ruth Parasol and Russ DeLeon, who also co-founded Party Poker, don’t appear to be near any type of settlement with the US government. Party Gaming has been negotiating with the Department of Justice for some time now; could this mean their eventual return to the US if and when Internet gaming is regulated?
More on this developing story later…
UPDATE: Party Gaming has released their own press release stating that they are still in final negotiations with the US Dept. of Justice in terms of a settlement, and that they will pay a substantially lower amount to the US government than Dikshit. At the time of this update, they’re up over 25% in trading today.
5pm UPDATE: Dikshit has entered his plea, and is free on a $15m bond, which limits him to travel within the European Union, India and New York. He has also already paid $100,000,000 with another payment due in 3 months, and the rest by September. Also, he’s scheduled for sentencing December 16, 2010. Further details here.
Ben Matlock says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:02pm
$300,000,000???????
DanM says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:12pm
Shakedown.
They might as well call it a licensing pre-application fee.
Kevin Mathers says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:17pm
It surely is, but if it takes “only” $300m to be legitimate, I’m sure there’ll be plenty of sites who’ll gladly pay.
DanM says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:19pm
And plenty who can’t afford to.
Kevin Mathers says:
December 15th, 2008 at 6:21pm
That’s when you get the B&M casinos to come in and consolidate the market.
DanM says:
December 15th, 2008 at 7:13pm
Hmm, very interesting. I think you are on to something. Party’s stock ain’t exactly expensive these days either.
DanM says:
December 15th, 2008 at 7:16pm
I’m curious where they come up with that number, though. I have a feeling it’s pretty close to what Dikshit woulda had to pay in some capacity in American taxes had he made that money in a regulated US environ.
Kevin Mathers says:
December 15th, 2008 at 8:06pm
You’re probably right on why it’s that much Dan. Expect their stock to rise again tomorrow morning, which helps his bottom line as well.
DanM says:
December 15th, 2008 at 10:37pm
One of the things I just found interesting about the link in your comment — the value of the US dollar seems to be rising against the British pound.
I’ve always thought of it as 2:1, but apparently it’s now 3:2.
Bill Reynolds says:
December 16th, 2008 at 8:10am
Come on, that’s a made-up name. “Dikshit”? No Way.
DanM says:
December 16th, 2008 at 9:40am
Can you imagine what it must be like to be the kid who grew up being made fun of for his last name, suddenly having a couple billion dollars?
DanM says:
December 16th, 2008 at 10:14am
Thanks for the update, Kev. I’m certainly happy, as a PartyPoker stock owner. And the word that a settlement with the company is pending makes me think they are due for another spike.
(But note: I am a total stock donkey — so take that assessment with many many grains of salt.)
Aaron A. says:
December 16th, 2008 at 12:22pm
Crap Bill!! I was just about to say that. Dik Shit haha.
DanM says:
December 16th, 2008 at 2:39pm
Re: 5 pm update
Damn, I think it’s strange that a United States court can put restrictions on an Indian passport.
Poker Shrink says:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:50pm
Less we forget, the other two major stockholders and original owners of Party Poker are not settling a similar claim with the US government. Unlikely there will be any Party presence in the US until all claims are settled.
DanM says:
December 17th, 2008 at 2:54pm
So Anurag just has some shit going on where he needs to clear this off his plate … or maybe travel to the US?