Unites States v. Pokerstars, et al

Filing 270

DECLARATION of AUSA Jason H. Cowley in Support re: 237 MOTION For (1) the Entry of a Proposed Stipulated Order of Settlement Between the United States and Certain Absolute Poker-Affiliated Entities and (2) the Interlocutory Sale of All Assets of Those Entities. MOTION For (1) the Entry of a Proposed Stipulated Order of Settlement Between the United States and Certain Absolute Poker-Affiliated Entities and (2) the Interlocutory Sale of All Assets of Those Entities.. Document filed by United States Of America. (Attachments: # 1 Exhibit A, # 2 Exhibit B, # 3 Exhibit C)(Cowley, Jason)

Exhibit A

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK
X

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
- v. 11 Civ . 2564

(LBS)

POKERSTARS, et al.
Defendan ts ;

ALL RIGHT, TITLE AND INTEREST IN
THE ASSETS OF POKERSTARS, et al.;
De fe ndan ts -in-rem.
-

-

-

X

DECLARATION OF JERRY D. BERNSTEIN
JERRY D. BERNSTEIN, pursuant to the provisions of
28 U.S.C. § 1 746, declares as follows:
1.
In this action,

I am a partner with the law f irm Blank Rome LLP.
I represent the c ompanies collectively identified

as the Absolute Poker Sett l emen t Group, as that term is defined
in the memorandum in support of the Government's mo t ion for

(1 )

the entrance of the proposed stipulated or de r of settlement
betwee n the Gover nme nt and the Absolute Poker Settlement Gr o up,
and (2 ) an order perm i tt ing the United States Marshals Service to
conduct an interlocutory sale of a l l assets of the Absolute Poker
Settlement Group.

The i n formation in th is de c la ration i s based

on my own personal knowledge a nd on informati o n that I have
obta ined from former executives of the Absolu t e Poker Settlement

Group, as well as Canadian counsel for the Absolute Poker
Settlement Group.
2.

On or about April 16, 2011, all deposits and

withdrawals relating to U.S. located customers of the Absolute
Poker Settlement Group and related entities (collectively
"Absolute Poker"), were terminated.

In or about May 2011,

Absolute Poker began to block all non-U.S. customers from
withdrawing any money that had been deposited before April 15,
2011.

Between July 15 and July 30, 2011, Absolute Poker

terminated all deposits and withdrawals for all players,
regardless of location.
3.

On or about June 2, 2012, Absolute Poker's license

with the Kahnawake Gaming Commission expired.

The Absolute Poker

sites, including the sites affiliated with the domains
absolutepoker.com, ub.com, absolutepoker.eu, and ubpoker.eu were
shut down entirely, as were the servers supporting the Absolute
Poker online poker platform.

From that point on, any player in

the world accessing the Absolute Poker sites could not play any
games through the platform, whether for "real mon ey" or not,
acces s his or her account, or do anything else other than view
the inactive site.

The h os ting cos t of keeping the servers in

operat i on past that date would ha ve been approximately $100,000
per mon th.

2

4.

In June 2012, I communicated with Leonard Rodes,

counsel for Avoine - Servico De Consultadoria E Marketing, LOA
("Avoine")

regarding the discovery requests directed to Blanca

Games, Inc., SGS Systems Inc., Trust Services Ltd., Fiducia
Exchange Ltd, Blue Water Services Ltd., and Absolute
Entertainment, S.A., that he served upon me in my capacity as
counsel in this matter.

Counsel for Avoine has never sought a

"meet and confer" regarding his discovery demands.

In fact, when

I discussed the discovery demands with counsel for Avoine, he
advised that I could put them aside for future discussion.

That

discussion has not occurred.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing
is true and correct.
Dated:

New York, New York
September 21, 2012

COUNSEL FOR THE ABSOLUTE POKER
SETTLEMENT GROUP

3