The Holocaust-era assets of Hungarian Jews and the arrest of CEO Raymond Bitar:

  • A supplemental amicus curiae brief filed in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, U.S. Supreme Court, Docket No. 10-1491, mentions that according to the  Republic of Hungary, 500,000 Jews were killed during the Hungarian Holocaust.  The brief filed on behalf of the Hungarian Jewish victims, mentions how Jewish assets were frozen at banks; and that from April to December 1944, these victims were transported by train to Auschwitz and other concentration camps.  Page 1 of the brief also notes that “[t]o this date, these assets have not been returned nor has any compensation been paid for their taking.”  The brief can be reviewed by clicking here.
  • As Bloomberg.com and Wall Street Journal articles reveal, CEO Raymond Bitar of the Full Tilt Poker Internet gambling business, was arrested on July 2nd.  An indictment was first filed against Mr. Bitar on March 10, 2011, for alleged violations of gambling, bank fraud and money laundering laws.  A press release states that an eleven-count superseding indictment accusing Mr. Bitar of running a Ponzi scheme, was also unsealed on July 2nd.  The press release quotes an FBI official saying: ‘The on-line casino became an Internet Ponzi scheme.

Copyright 2012 Fred L. Abrams