Renato Hamel will resign his post as head of the Chilean Gaming Control Board, or SJC, at the request of President Michelle Bachelet, according to the country’s Ministry of Finance.
The World Casino Directory reports that Hamel is being pressured to resign after a three-year stint due to “growing controversy” around the awarding of a gaming license for the city of Chillan in the Bío region of Chile.
The licensing process for the South American casino has been stalled since 2014, and in November, a proposal submitted by the Boldt-Peralada group was rejected for the third time. Attorney Ricardo Abdala, who represents Boldt-Peralada, said lawmakers exceeded their authority in rejecting the proposal and unfairly favored a Chilean-Canadian competitor, Marina del Sol. Abdala promised to contest the decision.
Also in November, local media reported that SJC failed to file certain reports on time in order to keep Marina del Sol in the running. SJC has rejected the claim as “absolutely false.”
Hamel was appointed in May 2012 under President Sebastián Piñera. He will be succeeded on an interim basis by civil engineer Daniel García Fernández, former director of management services at the Ministry of Finance, according to G3 Newswire.
