Posts Tagged ‘Colony Capital LLC’

PokerStars CEO Pays $50 Million for Clean Bill of Legal Health

by , Jun 18, 2013 | 12:54 pm

With Black Friday cases winding up, Mark Scheinberg could make out as the biggest winner in the poker universe.

With Black Friday cases winding up, Mark Scheinberg could make out as the biggest winner in the poker universe.

The chief executive of online gaming giant PokerStars agreed to forfeit $50 million to federal prosecutors to rid his himself of a two-year-old complaint filed by the U.S. government.

In a settlement agreement this week with the Department of Justice, the money being paid by PokerStars CEO Mark Scheinberg is based on allegations contained in the April 15, 2011, complaint filed by federal prosecutors against PokerStars as part of the government’s “Black Friday” crackdown on illegal Internet gaming operations.

“The agreement is not in response to any action that had been brought against Mark and contains no admission of wrongdoing, culpability or guilt on his behalf,” PokerStars spokesman Eric Hollreiser said in an emailed statement.

Last July, PokerStars accepted a $731 million forfeiture to the federal government to end the company’s legal battle with prosecutors.

Three senior officers of PokerStars were charged in April 2011 with bank fraud, money laundering and running an illegal Internet gambling enterprise.

The Justice Department absolved the company of any wrongdoing in accepting Internet wagers from American customers. PokerStars also wasn’t prohibited from entering legal U.S. gaming markets.

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