It has regrettably been announced that the proposed deal between Groupe Bernard Tapie and Full Tilt Poker has fallen through due to the fact that the French investors were unable to agree with the Department of Justice over how quickly players would be repaid with the money that was tied up on the site.
According to a Washington-based attorney for Groupe Bernard Tapie, Benham Dayanim’s statement to The Associated Press a few days ago, prosecutors had changed their offer earlier this month and decided that Full Tilt players be repaid in full within ninety days of the sale which the French investors were not prepared to do.
Spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Jerika Richardson, declined to make any comment on the matter.
Barry Boss, lawyer for Full Tilt Poker, confirmed that the agreement between themselves and Groupe Bernard Tapie had been terminated and added that despite this development, Full Tilt Poker is optimistic that Full Tilt players will still be repaid as the group was still in settlement discussions.
Groupe Bernard Tapie’s aim was to restart Full Tilt Poker and give its gamblers their money back. The group intended paying players outside the United States while Americans who gambled at the site would then be able to forward claims to the Justice Department. No stake in the new company would be given to current investors who had stakes in Full Tilt.
The prosecutors changed their offer just as the deal with the Justice Department was about to be finalized.
