"Vi anerkender fuldt og fast rapporten fra Kahnawake Gaming Commission, og vi accepterer uden forbehold kommissionens konklusioner og sanktioner". Ordene kommer fra Absolute Pokers ledelse, der kommenterer den længe ventede rapport om svindlen på Absolute Poker, der havde af sitets egne højtstående medarbejdere i skurkerollen.
Rapporten, der er udformet på baggrund af den uafhængige kontrolinstans Gaming Associates, tilbundsgående undersøgelser, frikender Absolute Poker for et egentligt medansvar, men firmaet skal alligevel betale en bøde på $500.000, fordi de ikke informerede myndighederne inden for 24 timer efter de havde opdaget sikkerhedsbruddet.
Kahnawake Gaming Commission forlanger desuden, at Absolute Poker bliver underlagt særlig opsyn - herunder en række uanmeldte kontrol besøg over de næste to år. Alt sammen accepterer det skandaleramt.
"Vi er kun glade for langt om længe at kunne lægge denne sag bag os", skriver ledelsen i pressemeddelelse.
Du kan læse hele pressemedelelsen her:
'When Absolute Poker notified the KGC of the security breach in our system, we had every expectation that the Commission would undertake a comprehensive and fair investigation. After reviewing the published report, we recognize the completeness and accuracy of the KGC conclusions, and we accept without reservation the KGC’s findings and sanctions. Most importantly, we are pleased, after these many months, that Absolute Poker can finally put behind it a most distressing and regrettable experience for the Company, its employees, and its customers.
'The KGC points out that ‘AP has taken the appropriate actions to address the vulnerability in its systems…and to prevent its systems from being compromised again…’ AP has appointed a team of both internal and external members to improve controls and install safeguards, and accepts the audit findings as an opportunity to improve our internal practices and guarantee the safest playing environment in the industry. '
'We are pleased that the KGC’s findings of fact point out that ‘there is no evidence to indicate that the impugned activities were initiated or sanctioned by AP…or were intended to benefit AP, as a corporate entity. The report also states that ‘AP made expeditious efforts to appropriately reimburse all players…with interest’ who were affected by the cheating.'
'The Company also regrets the inadvertent deletion of certain gaming logs and records during the course of the investigation, although AP is relieved that these deletions did not, according to the KGC, ‘prevent the Commission from obtaining sufficient information.'
'Having experienced first-hand the devastating impact of a security breach, we fully appreciate the importance of trust and security for AP itself and the broader industry. A secure site goes to the heart of player confidence, and we are more committed than ever to ensuring that confidence. To that end, we have taken it upon ourselves to convene on January 18, 2008 the first of a series of ‘poker security summits’. AP will invite respected and independent members of the poker community to focus on innovative and cutting-edge ways to further improve AP’s security and enhance its transparency.
'As AP has repeatedly stated in the past, we regret the damage done to our players and to our own reputation by this incident. We acknowledge that the Company did not act with sufficient speed to uncover the fraud; however, once we were convinced of the veracity of the allegations, we moved quickly to inform the KGC and to reimburse affected players. While AP is paying a severe penalty for the fraud perpetrated upon the Company and its customers, we are gratified that we can now close the book on this sordid affair and return our full focus to providing the safest, most secure, and most enjoyable poker playing experience in the industry.'