Posting this here before it disappears from the internet.
Link to Article - https://www.curacaochronicle.com/post/main/none-of-curacaos-master-license-holders-has-a-valid-license/
Seems like the casinos and minister are blowing it off as made up but it is a strange claim to randomly make up mostly because it should be easy to prove false by any of the master license holders. All of which at this time are refusing to present their license.
Anyone know anything about this?
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None of Curaçao's 'Master License Holders' has a valid license
MAIN | By Correspondent Nov. 17, 2023WILLEMSTAD - None of the five so-called 'master license holders' in Curaçao possesses a legitimate and therefore valid license to operate or allow the operation of online gambling sites. This was revealed through an investigation by the reporter at Curaçao.nu, who analyzed the five current gambling licenses based on an appeal to the Landsverordening Openbaar Bestuur.
Curaçao's administrators failed to renew the licenses issued in the 1990s - consciously or not - following proper legal procedures in 2008, 2013. Subsequent extensions in 2018 and 2023 were then based on the previously issued invalid renewals.
Initially, Antillean Ministers of Justice Norberto Ribeiro and David Dick made the mistake, followed by the respective Ministers of Justice of Curaçao, Elmer Wilsoe, Nelson Navarro, Quincy Girigorie, up to the current Minister of Finance, Javier Silvania.
Meeting on gambling licenses with Minister Silvania
The latter should have been more aware when questioned about the validity of the five government-issued online gambling licenses in early October last year, within the context of giving the right to reply.
Instead of responding to the journalist, the 'right of reply' was published the next day in the Antilliaans Dagblad, which did not seek a response.
"All five Curaçao 'master license holders' for online gaming have a valid license," was the minister's response, stating that the journalist's information was 'not accurate.' Whereas, it has now been revealed to be the opposite.
First Licenses Issued
The first licenses, for Cyberluck and Antillephone, were granted in 1996. In 1998 and 2002, additional licenses were issued for Gaming Services Provider and Curacao Interactive Licensing. In 2003, the government led by Mirna Godett granted the last online gambling license, which was a permanent license for The Elite Turf Club, automatically renewed.
There are additional licenses issued, but these were not disclosed in response to Curacao.nu's request under the Landsverordening Openbaarheid Bestuur. These include at least three 'master license holders': Intertrust (T.I.S.S. N.V.) owned by Gregory Elias, Millionaire's Club N.V. owned by Robbie dos Santos, and Curaçao Interactive Gaming Licensing under the abbreviation CIGL - Equity Trust.
Automatic renewal of a gambling license, like that of The Elite Turf Club, goes against the principles of good governance and is undesirable because it deprives the government of crucial assessment moments. Nevertheless, the then Minister of Justice, Mr. Norberto Ribeiro, granted such a license to The Elite Turf Club, owned by a group of Americans who had established a Curaçao-based shell company for this purpose.
Over time, the issuance and renewal of licenses by the Curaçao government to license holders on the island became a real concern due to the lack of law enforcement and oversight over the unbridled increase in illegal sublicenses to parties that could not be screened for safety by the government, thus bypassing regulation and oversight.
The Dutch Minister of Justice, Franc Weerwind, stated last year that due to the lack of proper supervision by the Curaçao government, insufficient data is available regarding, for example, the independent decisions made by master license holders to issue sublicenses. "Non-transparent," said Weerwind.
Read the rest via the link above.
