Howard Lederer has agreed with the United States government on a settlement of the civil case against him, putting to rest one of the last remaining loose ends of the 2011 Black Friday debacle. The Stipulation and Order of Settlement was filed Tuesday in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York.
In the settlement, Lederer agreed to forfeit two bank accounts, a 1965 Shelby Cobra automobile, a property at 309 Kingsclear Court in Las Vegas, $30,000 traceable to the sale of a property at 5426 Fawn Chase Way in Las Vegas, and all proceeds traceable to the sale of a property at 2735 Twin Palms Circle.
According to an estimate at Zillow.com, the Kingsclear Court property’s estimated market value is just over $500,000 while the Twin Palms Circle property is estimated to be worth over $470,000.
Additionally, Lederer is to liquidate $168,000 from various accounts to hand over to the government as well as pay a civil money laundering penalty of $1.25 million. $500,000 of that latter figure is due within 18 months while the remainder is due within 36 months.
In the settlement, Lederer admits to no liability or guilt of any kinds. He also agrees to not make money, either directly or indirectly, from internet gambling businesses in the United States. Interesting, the agreement does leave the door open for him slightly, as it adds:
…until if and when a change in applicable law takes place making the offering of such gambling lawful in the United States and Lederer, or whatever entity with which he is affiliated, obtains appropriate authorization from all relevant governmental regulatory authorities.
Howard Lederer was not originally named in the April 2011 Black Friday indictment, but was added in September of that year when the government filed a civil lawsuit against him, Chris “Jesus” Ferguson, Full Tilt Poker CEO Ray Bitar, and Rafe Furst. In the suit, the U.S. was originally seeking $42.5 million from Lederer for his role in the defrauding of Full Tilt customers. He has denied any wrongdoing.
This agreement is similar to that of Furst, who settled his case with the United States in November. The financial figures in Furst’s agreement, however, were much smaller than in Lederer’s. Furst was required to forfeit a trust account and pay a fine of $150,000. The U.S. was originally seeking a forfeiture of $11 million from Furst. The rest of the terms were almost identical, including the agreement not to work in the online gambling industry.
Because of his legal troubles and his obliterated reputation, Lederer had essentially disappeared from the public eye after Black Friday until very recently. This fall, he sat down for a lengthy interview with PokerNews.com to discuss what he knew about the Full Tilt scandal and also began sitting down at the cash game tables at the Bellagio and Aria casinos. Poker player Nick DiVella attempted to circulate a petition to ban Lederer from Aria, but casino management, while understanding his motives, did not permit him to pass the petition around the property.
