US government granted extension over Chris Ferguson motion
Former Tiltware board member filed own motion to dismiss following Howard Lederer's December settlement.
The United States government has been granted an extension to this week’s deadline to reply to a motion to dismiss civil charges against former Tiltware board member Chris Ferguson.
The deadline for a response to Ferguson’s motion was Monday of this week, however the US government had requested an extension until 18 February.
A letter was sent and addressed to Judge Kimba M Wood, who replaced Judge Leonard B Sand on the case late last year, on behalf of Preet Bharara US Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Judge Wood amended the deadline to 19 February and granted the request.
It explained: “Since [Ferguson filed his own motion to dismiss], counsel for the Government and counsel for defendant Ferguson have engaged in extensive settlement conversations. These conversations have not yet resulted in an agreement.”
Ferguson was named in the First Amended Civil Complaint of September 2011, which accused him – along with three fellow board members of Full Tilt’s former software company – of receiving up to US$443m worth of player funds in the form of distributions.
While he had initially filed a joint motion to dismiss with former Full Tilt Poker president Howard Lederer, Ferguson was permitted – after Lederer settled with authorities last month – to convert his supporting memorandum into his own motion to dismiss.
A third board member, Rafe Furst, has also reached a settlement, while the fourth of the quarter – former Full Tilt CEO Ray Bitar – is currently facing criminal charges related to his April 2011 indictment as well as the civil element to the Black Friday proceedings as well as a superseding indictment unsealed last July. Bitar pleaded not guilty to all charges.
According to the First Amended Complaint, Ferguson owned approximately 19.2% of Tiltware and was chairman of its board of directors. The complaint alleges that he received approximately US$25m of the more than $85m in distributions allocated to him during his time with the operator.
The docket filed this week with regards to the proposed deadline extension carries the handwritten note “Granted, KMW” and is signed by Judge Wood.
(Photo via flipchip, under Creative Commons licence)