“Undue interests” in contracts
The public prosecutor’s office in Colombia, South America has announced the arrests of 31 people in connection with improperly awarded gaming licenses, reports CalvinAyre.com.
Several current and former gaming regulators were accused of having “undue interest” in the contracts and issuing them improperly, the website reported. They are also alleged to have conspired to commit fraud and helped falsify public documents for the purposes of financial enrichment.
Among those arrested were Rodrigo Vélez and Diego Rafael Pérez, two former presidents of the Colombian gaming regulator Coljuegos. Pérez now manages the Bogota Lottery. Two former presidents of Coljuegos’ predecessor, Etesa, also were arrested.
“These arrests are the product of an exhaustive investigation that began in March 2016, following the findings of an audit. It was, ultimately, determined that these contracts were awarded through shell companies,” said Luis Gustavo Morenot, director of the Anti-Corruption Unit of the Attorney General.
“Twelve raids were carried out in the early hours of the morning by 250 police officers who traveled to different regions of the country, arresting officials and former officials of Coljuegos, and owners of casinos,” added Colonel Pablo Ruiz, director in charge of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation and Interpol.
The probe centered on contracts awarded to Lucky Ducks, which operates several casinos in the Eje Cafetero coffee-growing region. According to Colombian media, police also seized almost 200 illegal slot machines from Lucky Ducks that were first seized in 2012 by gambling regulator Etesa. Etesa did not destroy the machines, as was required by law, and when Coljuegos took over as regulator, it “somehow agreed to give the illegal slots to Lucky Ducks as part of its licensing contract agreement,” reported Yogonet.com.
