Casino behemoths Genting and Partouche recently filed a criminal complaint against Víctor Tàpies, who served as an advisor to Andorra’s gaming regulator, Consell Regulador Andorrà del Joc. The lawsuit claims Tàpies had close ties to Jocs SA, a small domestic bingo hall operator, which last year was granted the license to build the nation’s first casino, even though Jocs had not previously built or operated a casino, and Genting had pledged to invest ten times more than Jocs proposed. The complaint states Tàpies participated in the evaluation of the bids and conspired with officials to arrange a deal in favor of Jocs. The CRAJ rescinded Jocs’ license last month, citing “deficiencies” in its proposal and deviations from its original plans.
Andorran Finance Minister Jordi Cinca denied Tàpies had any connection to Jocs. He said Tàpies had 35 years’ experience in the gaming industry and formed many relationships with many gaming companies and added the government will work with Andorran authorities regarding any requests for information.
Jocs also rejected the accusations, stating Tàpies never worked for the company in a professional capacity. In fact, Jocs officials said they considered hiring him as an adviser for the licensing process but did not as that could have been seen as a conflict of interest.
French casino group Barrière and its local partner Lleure 3D filed a separate lawsuit against CRAJ claiming the license should be awarded to them since they were the second-place bidder. Borja Ferrater, the architect on the Barrière project, said “provided everything went well with license,” the casino could open by Christmas 2020.
