Absolute Poker, UltimateBet Refunds to be Issued to Another 494 Claimants
The US Department of Justice and Ohio-based, third-party claims administrator Garden City Group have announced a fourth wave of remission payments, soon to be sent to customers of the failed (and fraudulent) sites Absolute Poker and UB.com, the latter of which was long known as UltimateBet.
This is the fourth such round of remission payments scheduled to be sent out to former players on AP and UB. The two sites together comprised the Cereus Network, which for all real purpose folded with the “Black Friday” crackdown in April of 2011. It took roughly six years in bankroll limbo before the DOJ-directed refund plan was announced last year. As with the earlier and much larger Full Tilt Poker remission campaign, the payments to Absolute Poker and UltimateBet players actually come from the massive settlement funds paid by PokerStars’ then-owner, Rational Group, back in 2012.
The current round of payments will go out to 494 AP/UB petitioners, and it totals just $133,005.04. This follows a similarly-sized payment wave in March, following two larger payment waves in 2017. Here are the four series of AP/UB payments announced to date:
Wave 1 (August 2017) — 7,400 players, $33,500,000
Wave 2 (October 2017) — 4,600 players, $3,700,000
Wave 3 (March 2018) — 450 players, $1,084,200
Wave 4 (October 2018) — 494 players, $133,000
All told, that means that nearly 13,000 former players on Absolute Poker and UltimateBet/UB.com collectively will have received over $38.4 million in refunds, which is just a portion of the funds looted by Absolute Poker’s former executive management, led by disgraced founder and president Scott Tom.
Here’s the full notice available at absolutepokerclaims.com:
IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PAYMENTS
GCG has been informed that the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice (MLARS) has approved a fourth round of payments to Petitioners who confirmed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances after the initial September 7, 2017 filing deadline and Petitioners who have disputed their Absolute Poker / Ultimate Bet account balances. The distribution will include payments to 494 Petitioners with awards totaling $133,005.04.
Payments will be made via electronic ACH to Petitioners residing in the United States and via foreign currency check to Petitioners residing outside of the United States. In cases where a foreign currency check cannot be issued, the payment will be made via USD check or foreign currency wire depending on the Petitioners country of residence.
Within the next few weeks, GCG will be sending an email notice to all approved Petitioners that contains the amount and method of their payment. For Petitioners scheduled to receive their payment via electronic ACH or foreign currency wire, the email notice will also include instructions for submitting the required banking information needed for payment.
GCG will also be sending an email notice to certain Petitioners who were approved for payment and were identified as having a delinquent debt qualifying for collection through the Treasury Offset Program. Payments for these Petitioners will be reduced in order to satisfy their debt in part or in whole. To receive the balance of their payment, Petitioners must provide GCG with the information required to complete a Unified Financial Management System Vendor Request Form. Instructions on how to provide this information will be included in the email notice.
Specific questions regarding outstanding debts and offset amounts cannot be addressed by the Department of Justice or GCG. To obtain information on your individual debt, you must contact the Treasury Offset Program at (800) 304-3107 or visit https://fiscal.treasury.gov/fsservices/gov/debtColl/dms/top/debt_top.htm for additional information.
Petitioners should continue to check this website for updates regarding the payment process and this administration.
Updated 10/26/18
COMMENTS