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Published: 3rd July 2012 Written by Poker News
Updated: 4th December 2023

ray bitar arrestedThere has been some new light shed on the Pokerstars buying Full Tilt Poker rumor, Ray Bitar was arrested at JFK Airport for his indictment charges from Black Friday. The Full Tilt Poker founder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and willingly turned himself in as part of the process of repaying players.

In an email Ray Bitar sent out to his Dublin staff he revealed that the “deal with PokerStars will very soon make our goal a reality” in repaying players and “PokerStars to guarantee all July salaries” for his staff.

According to the Associated Press the US Gov were working in conjunction with the the Irish authorities to have Ray Bitar extradited. Bitar could be sentenced up to 145 years in prison for charges of fraud.

Ray Bitar Arrested – Full Tilt Poker update

Below is the email which Ray Bitar sent to his Dublin staff before turning himself in.

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To all Dublin Staff,

By now you probably have heard that I have returned to the US to deal with civil and criminal case that are pending against me in New York. We have all worked hard over the last 15 months to preserve Full Tilt’s assets and potential in order to provide for the repayment of all players, and that continues to be our top priority. It is as important as ever that we all do everything possible to make that happen and, hopefully our deal with Poker Stars will very soon make our goal a reality. My return to the US is part of this process.

I am particularly grateful to all of you here in Dublin for your hard work, patience and understanding during this difficult time. I believe that your hard work and dedication should not go unrecognized, and we have made arrangements for Poker Stars to guarantee all July salaries. You should therefore have no concern about coming to work during this period. After that, we expect that your employment contracts will be assumed by the buyer of the company’s assets.

For those that need to reach me, I expect to continue to be available by email and phone starting late Monday, New York time.

In the meantime, please refer any operational questions to **REDACTED**, and any HR questions to **REDACTED**.

Thank you all again.

Kind regards,

Raymond J Bitar

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