Howard Lederer is currently in the process of doing a big interview with PokerNews that centers on his involvement in Full Tilt Poker’s demise. The seven-hour interview is called “The Lederer Files,” and it’s supposed to give Howard an opportunity to explain his actions. But with The Lederer Files over halfway finished, all we’ve gotten so far are the ramblings and accusations of a sociopath.
Rather than accept responsibility for his actions, Howard chose to deflect blame on others such as Ray Bitar. He said that Bitar was severely underqualified to serve as Full Tilt’s CEO and too incompetent as well.
Lederer also took aim at Phil Ivey by saying his lawsuit ruined any chance to sell FTP. Howard’s exact quote was, “He wasn’t speaking out for anybody except himself. He had a moral obligation to the poker community to do everything he could to, at the very least, not damage the company he had greatly profited from – the lawsuit was absurd.”
The onslaught of blame didn’t end here though because Lederer also brought all of the poker pros who took loans from FTP into the matter. He specifically identified Ivey, John Juanda and Erick Lindgren by saying that these players were unwilling to pay millions in loans back to Full Tilt. He said, “We got a lot of resistance. As of the end of May 2011, the only member who paid back what he owed the company was me. I owed the company $700,000 and I paid it in late May.”
What a surprise that Lederer would take this opportunity to say that only he repaid the loan. Of course, it’s a lot easier to do so when you’ve taken well over $40 million from the site – much of which came from player deposits. This being said, it’s no wonder why the US government wants around $40 million back from Howard through a civil suit.
Tags: Erick Lindgren, Howard Lederer, John Juanda, Phil Ivey, Ray Bitar, The Lederer Files