The entire internet gambling community and online poker players alike have been waiting to hear the results from the Kahnawake Gambling Commission’s investigation into the Absolute Poker scandal. The KGC announced today that they have imposed a fine on Absolute Poker for $500,000.00 dollars and will perform random unannounced audit’s at AP’s expense over the next two years.
Absolute Poker will also need to place a acceptable secure deposit with the Kahnawake Gambling Commission to hold indefinitely. A summary of the KGC report on Absolute Poker is provided below:
The Kahnawake Gaming Commission made the following findings:
1. For an approximately 6-week period beginning Aug. 14, nine user names compromised Absolute Poker and used software to view the “hole cards” of other players. The Commission has identified the person(s) associated with the accounts and requires Absolute Poker to remove the person(s) from any official role with Absolute Poker and prove to the Commission that it has done so.
2. A person or persons associated with AP operations deleted logs to cover their tracks. The Commission figured out what happened anyway, and believes that aside from the deletions, Absolute Poker has cooperated with the investigation in every way.
3. There is no evidence that the illicit activities were approved by or benefited Absolute Poker as a corporate entity.
4. However, the principals of Absolute Poker did fail to inform the Commission of the illicit activities within 24 hours of their discovery.
5. After the illicit activities became public, Absolute Poker reimbursed all affected players. If any more players can prove they were affected, they will be reimbursed as well. That notification must occur within 60 days.
6. Absolute Poker has taken steps to fix the vulnerability that allowed this to occur and to prevent something similar in the future.
Following these findings, the Commission has determined that Absolute Poker “has breached the following sections of the Commission’s Regulations;” those that state that a person must not dishonestly obtain a benefit in any way through the use of any tool, that if the Provider becomes aware or suspects that such an event has occurred, must notify the Commission within 24 hours, the Provider must keep a record for five years of the activities, and inspection of the activities must not be obstructed.
Thus, the Kahnawake Gaming Commission will impose sanctions on Absolute Poker:
1. Random audits, which will be paid for by Absolute Poker, of logs and records will be conducted over the next two years. If these audits find that AP has breached any aspect of its provider agreement, its authorisation may be suspended or revoked.
2. A continuous compliance program including remedial measures must be immediately implemented by Absolute Poker.
3. And, again, all persons associated with the illicit activities and their coverup must be permanently removed from “mind or management” and/or operations of Absolute Poker.
4. A $500,000 fine must be paid within 60 days.
5. An “acceptable” security deposit must be posted by Absolute Poker in anticipation of the Committee’s audits finding future agreement-breaching activities.
6. All costs associated with the investigation must be paid by Absolute Poker.
Checkout the rest of the KGC report on Absolute Poker here.
