Report: UltimateBet's former owners hit with lawsuit

MSNBC.com is reporting Blast-Off Ltd., a private comapny that has a current ownership interest in UltimateBet, has sued Canadian firm Excapsa Software Inc., the former owners of UltimateBet, for $75 million for its role in the "superuser" scandal that has plagued the online poker room this year.

In May, UltimateBet's owners, Tokwiro Enterprises ENRG, admitted that UltimateBet security had been breached by former employees and accounts with access to opponent's hole cards were used to cheat in high-stakes games. AbsolutePoker, also owned by Tokwiro, hand been plagued by a similar scandal last year.

"The ability of a specific account to view hole cards was enabled by illicit software that was placed on the UltimateBet servers prior to October 2006, which was before Tokwiro acquired the business," Tokwiro said in a statement this summer.

In July, the Kahnawáke Gaming Commission (KGC) asked former New Jersey State Gaming Regulator Frank Catania to spearhead a probe into cheating at UltimateBet and Absolute Poker, including what role, if any, Tokwiro Enterprises played in the scandal. Tokwiro Enterprises is owned by Joe Norton, former Grand Chief of the Kahnawáke.

MSNBC.com is reporting that Excapsa has voluntarily entered liquidation proceedings, and the liquidator working on Excapsa's case says Blast-Off and Tokwiro "are somewhat one in the same."