The lawsuit launched against PayPal on the back of Chris Moneymaker’s funds being seized has run into trouble, a court sending it for arbitration but the law firm on the poker player’s side looking to appeal that ruling…
As we reported last May, a furious Moneymaker claimed that PayPal had stolen more than $12,000 from his account – money he had been holding as the prizepool for a fantasy football league.
Twitter was full of similar financial horror stories, Mike Matusow claiming he had a similar amount taken, but PayPal claim that the small print allows them to do exactly that.
If you have a @paypal account they can literally steal your money for thousands of reason and offer you no reason why. This is there response after stealing my 12k.#seeyouinsmallclaimsbitch pic.twitter.com/lJzBgD9vvz
— Chris Moneymaker ⭕ (@CMONEYMAKER) May 18, 2021
Incensed by PayPal’s actions, Moneymaker decided to take the legal route, but as soon as he mentioned lawyers, PayPal coughed up the money.
That didn’t stop the 2003 WSOP Main Event champion from promising the global payments company “hell is coming!”
2/3 I guess @paypal chickened out and gave me my money back when they heard about the lawsuit and backlash. Unfortunately, for @paypal I have been contact by over 50 people that you have done this too. The lawsuit I am filing will continue!! pic.twitter.com/wUYOzsVyRy
— Chris Moneymaker ⭕ (@CMONEYMAKER) June 16, 2021
His lawyer, Eric Bensamochan – who many will remember as Todd Witteles’ attorney when Mike Postle tried to sue him and others for defamation – continued the battle against PayPal.
Poker League of Nations takes a hit
In January of this year, he filed a class action lawsuit, using three primary cases, one of which featured Poker League of Nations founder, Lena Evans.
PLON is designed to help promote the cause of women in poker, but Evans saw $26,984 taken from the business account, due to a similar violation of their terms of service as Moneymaker.
The money was intended for PLONcares, the branch of Evans’ organisation that provides emergency support for “poker-involved women”.
Evans, a two-time WSOP Circuit ring winner, “personally covered the losses from funds PayPal stole,” and moved all her other accounts to a different provider.
Lawsuit dismissed
The class action suit had hoped to prove that “PayPal’s transactions and practices are illegal, highly questionable and akin to outright theft.”
Unfortunately for Bensamochan and those he was representing, however, the initial lawsuit was recently thrown out, Judge Beth Freeman sending it for arbitration as PayPal had demanded.
In her ruling , Judge Freeman wrote: “The plaintiffs have not shown that the arbitration agreement is “procedurally unconscionable” because there was an opt-out provision but the plaintiffs plainly agreed to it.”
That referred to those using PayPal signing up to Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) when they open their accounts, and Bensamochan failed to prove that should be overruled.
Appeal in the Pipeline
All is not yet lost, however, with Bensamochan planning an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, based on a recent Supreme Court of the United States ruling.
“We’re not down for the count. There will be an appeal,” Bensamochan is reported as saying.
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