Report of the ACBL Ethical Oversight Committee

In the matter of disciplinary charges against Lotan Fisher, Player No. 1906658, and Ron Schwartz, Player No. 1906623, the Ethical Oversight Committee unanimously finds:

1. Overwhelming evidence establishes that charged parties Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz engaged in collusive cheating and gave false information about prior disciplinary convictions when applying for ACBL membership.

2. Pursuant to the ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations Appendix B, Part B, E15, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz are EXPELLED, with loss of all membership rights and privileges in the ACBL. Also, pursuant to the Code of Disciplinary Regulations 3.2 and 4.1.8a, Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz hereby FORFEIT 100% of their total ACBL masterpoint holdings, with loss of all titles, status ranks and privileges.

3. Also, pursuant to the ACBL Code of Disciplinary Regulations 4.1.8c, the partners and teammates of Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz are subject to mandatory forfeiture of all masterpoints, titles and status ranks earned during the preceding four years calculated from the 2015 Spingold final.

A Message from ACBL President Ken Monzingo

For the second time this week, members of ACBL’s Ethical Oversight Committee, this time led by chair Jon Brissman, worked tirelessly in a three-day hearing to reach a decision regarding the charges of collusive cheating by Lotan Fisher and Ron Schwartz. The above result again confirms that our members will never tolerate such behavior. These diligent committee members gave many hours of their personal time, and ACBL management spent months compiling volumes of evidence, once again sending the message that our organization is serious in this matter. This is a refreshing new era of responsibility and accounting: ACBL will actively pursue and prosecute cheaters.

Again, on behalf of myself, the Board of Directors, ACBL management and the 168,000 other members of the League, we owe gratitude and respect to the courageous committee members Jon Brissman, Cheri Bjerkan, Dennis Clerkin, Lesley Davis, Bruce Ferguson, Bob Glasson, Hendrik Sharples and Eddie Wold. And special thanks to EOC Chairman Bart Bramley along with League Counsel Peter Rank and co-counsel Jeff Overby for their dedication in making sure such behavior will never be accepted in any part of our game. I also wish to thank the volunteer services of Bob Hamman, Jeff Meckstroth and Meyer Kotkin. I am so proud of them all.

It’s a great new beginning, and I am confident that management and the Board of Directors, with the help of these extraordinary volunteer members of the EOC, will continue to ensure the game of bridge is conducted on a level playing field, and that those who would connive to play otherwise will face the maximum penalties available.