{"id":149861,"date":"2020-09-24T08:46:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T15:46:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=149861"},"modified":"2020-09-24T11:35:07","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T18:35:07","slug":"pokerstars-founder-isai-scheinberg-dodges-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-founder-isai-scheinberg-dodges-prison\/","title":{"rendered":"PokerStars Founder Isai Scheinberg Dodges Prison in Black Friday Indictment, Pays $30,000 Fine"},"content":{"rendered":"

PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, 74, walked out of a New York federal courtroom a free man on Wednesday. Judge Lewis A. Kapan sentenced the Lithuanian-born Canadian citizen to time served and fined him $30,000 for operating an illegal online gaming business — chump change for a man who sold that business for $4.9 billion.<\/p>\n

\"Isai
Isai Scheinberg winning a PokerStars UKIPT tournament on the Isle of Man in a rare public appearance in 2014, shortly after he sold the business to Amaya for $4.9 billion (Image: PokerStars).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI don’t condone what you did, but the world is made of fallible people,\u201d said Kapan, as reported by Inner City Press<\/em>. \u201cIt was a big mistake, but should not ruin what remains of your life.\u201d \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Scheinberg pleaded guilty<\/a> to the single illegal gambling charge in March as part of a plea deal that saw more serious counts of bank fraud and money laundering dropped. Still, the online poker pioneer could have faced a prison sentence of between 12 and 18 months.<\/p>\n

Scheinberg was the last of 11 individuals charged by federal authorities in April 2011 for illegally facilitating online poker transactions in the US, the so-called Black Friday Indictments.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Black Friday\u2019s Last Chapter <\/strong><\/h2>\n

Federal prosecutors launched proceedings to extradite Scheinberg from Switzerland late last year. Forbes<\/em> reported that the septuagenarian fugitive initially contested the extradition effort, but in January voluntarily decided to travel to the US<\/a> to face the music.<\/p>\n

He surrendered his passport, posted a $1 million bond, and agreed not to leave the New York area until his sentencing.<\/p>\n

In opting for leniency, the judge considered Scheinberg\u2019s \u201cgood deeds\u201d in the immediate aftermath of Black Friday, when the Department of Justice shut down PokerStars, FullTilt, and CEREUS, the biggest online poker operators in the American market.<\/p>\n

\n

The DOJ exposed serious financial mismanagement at Full Tilt and the indictments precipitated the company\u2019s collapse, owing its players millions. PokerStars agreed to assume Full Tilt\u2019s debts, including $184 million in non-US player balances. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It also agreed to settle a civil forfeiture and civil money laundering action, which saw it pay out $547 million to the DOJ. This fund was used to repay Full Tilt\u2019s US customers, as well as some of CEREUS\u2019s.<\/p>\n

PokerStars Reimbursed Millions<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Nine years later, it looks like money well spent for Scheinberg, who exited the business when it was sold to Amaya Gaming, now The Stars Group, in 2014.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am pleased that Judge Kaplan has determined today not to impose a prison sentence in my case,\u201d Scheinberg said in a statement.<\/p>\n

PokerStars played an important role in creating today\u2019s global regulated online poker industry by running an honest and transparent business that always treated its players fairly,\u201d<\/strong> he added.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cI am particularly proud that in 2011, when PokerStars exited the United States, all of its American players were made whole immediately. Indeed, PokerStars reimbursed millions of players who were owed funds from other online companies that could not or did not repay those players.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg, 74, walked out of a New York federal courtroom a free man on Wednesday. Judge Lewis A. Kapan sentenced the Lithuanian-born Canadian citizen to time served and fined him $30,000 for operating an illegal online gaming business — chump change for a man who sold that business for $4.9 billion. \u201cI […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":149864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,14],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPokerStars Founder Isai Scheinberg Dodges Prison<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg avoids prison over Black Friday indictment, after spending nine years as a fugitive from US justice.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/pokerstars-founder-isai-scheinberg-dodges-prison\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" 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