"Tony G" to Take Legal Action Against AGCC

Poker News' primary shareholder, "Tony G" Guoga, announced on Tuesday that he would seek legal recourse against the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC).

According to Guoga, the AGCC did not exert due diligence when conducting the Full Tilt Poker license review. He asserts that the commission was aware of issues involving player funds prior to the handing down of the "Black Friday" indictments. For this, Guoga believes the AGCC should be held accountable.

“We believe [the AGCC] knew about it a long time ago,” Guoga says. “That security for the players’ money was not there, they hid this fact together with their auditors for years, benefiting in return. We raised it with them and they knew then and there.”

The potential legal action hinges on the fact that the AGCC knew about the Full Tilt violation in advance of the online poker site's financial meltdown, but did nothing to stop it because the violation padded the commission's pocket.

This stands in contrast to the AGCC mission statement, which espouses its merits with clauses like those claiming it ensures "all electronic gambling on Alderney is conducted honestly and fairly," that "the funding, management and operation of electronic gambling on Alderney remains free from criminal influence," and that "electronic gambling is regulated and monitored so as to protect the interests of licensees' customers as well as the young and vulnerable."

The fact that Full Tilt's Terms and Conditions did not include a clause relating to the transfer and transmission of player funds violated AGCC regulations. It's this that Tony G says constitutes negligence.

Jon Sykes, CEO of Vont Limited, Tony Guoga's egaming services business, had this to say of the AGCC's Full Tilt gaffe: "The security statement for the players’ money was not there, this was raised with them, and they knew that FTP was in breach of regulations back in December 2010."

For its part, FTP added a statement about player funds to its website in late February 2011. It read: "Customer funds are not segregated from company funds, but it is the intention of Filco Ltd to meet its liabilities as they fall due."