CEO of Antiguan Online Casino arrested in US
In another apparent attack on Antiguan gaming licensees, the EO of an Antiguan licensed online gaming company has been arrested by United States authorities.
Chairman of British online gambling company Sportingbet Plc was detained Wednesday in New York on a fugitive warrant, just two months after the Chief Executive of BetOnSports Plc, David Curruthers, was arrested in the US on racketeering charges.
Peter Dicks was arrested at the JFK International Airport on an outstanding warrant issued by the Louisiana State Police Gaming Enforcement Division.
Under Louisiana law, it is illegal to place a wager on the Internet and to operate an Internet casino. The law says the state is concerned about protecting citizens, in particular under age residents from “the pervasive nature of the gambling which can occur via the Internet.’
Dicks’ arrest comes in the wake of Antigua enacting Article 21 of the World Trade Organisation by-laws, requesting that a three-person arbitration board be formed to assess whether the US was complying with the 2004 ruling allowing online gaming and the possible sanctions to be taken against the US if they were found contravening the WTO rules.
The panel was formed last Monday and the results of their deliberations will be released in 90 days.
Kaye McDonald, director of gaming in Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission (FSRC) spoke on the effect this would have on the country’s online gaming industry.
“On a general note, we can obviously speculate that only Antiguan licensees are being detained. There are lots of different arguments and legal opinions on this whole matter, does it have to do with the WTO, or like it as the US government is stating - a crackdown on internet gaming,” McDonald stated.
“It certainly is of great concern for FSRC as a regulatory body that companies that are so transparent, particularly traded companies, their executives are being suspected of being involved in racketeering,” she added.
McDonald said that given the matter of the US right to prosecute gaming companies is currently before the WTO panel again, the FSRC would have at least liked to have seen a stay of the US actions, rather than seeing this “further entrenchment of their discriminatory measures being levied against operators, particularly Antiguan operators.”
According to McDonald, Dicks’ hearing was to have taken place last evening in New York, although officials have not released why he was detained. It is speculated that it is on charges on racketeering. She felt it premature to comment fully on the case before more information is released.
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