BGLC case collapses against Internet bookmaker
... after Surridge fails to testify
BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer writer
Sunday, November 13, 2005
SPIROS Athanas, whose Montego Bay based Internet gambling company was shutdown last year for breaches of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission Act, is now free to resume betting as long as he does not take local bets.
The BGLC's case against Athanas collapsed and all eight charges were dismissed after the prosecution's main witness Michael Surridge failed to give testimony.
The BGLC had shutdown Athanas' Montego Bay Free Zone-based operation in 2004, alleging that he was taking bets illegally via the Internet and international toll-free telephone calls.
The BGLC had also ruled that Spiros George Athanas, one of the owners of Olympic Sports Data Services Limited, was not a "fit and proper person" to run a gaming operation.
But last week, attorney Dr Lloyd Barnett told presiding Justice Winsome Henry that the BGLC would not be able to proceed with the case as its key witness had failed to show.
The BGLC's case was based on a sting operation reportedly set up by Surridge, the former head of the Revenue Protection Division (RPD) of the finance ministry.
Surridge's unit, RPD and the BGLC last year began to focus on the company when the British gaming board accused it of illegal bookmaking.
In May of that year, the BGLC, which regulates the Jamaican gaming industry, after months of investigation and wrangling between both sides, ordered that Olympic Sports wind up its operations, insisting that its bet-taking business breached Jamaican laws.
The company was initially granted a licence to operate a telemarketing business from the free zone, but branched out into gambling, taking bets from around the world, including Jamaica.
Winnings had to be sent abroad.
Last week, one of Athanas' lawyers, Clayton Morgan, told the Sunday Observer that the court was not told why Surridge was unable to show.
"This case has come up in court 12 times, and at no time did the plaintiffs witness turn up. At Tuesday's hearing, only one police officer was present," Morgan said Thursday.
He said his client was now free to resume business providing he does not accept local bets.
Morgan said he could not say how the company would safeguard the integrity of the bets.
Jamaican authorities had raided the company in April, seizing records and other documents. Morgan said all documents would be returned to Athanas.
When the company's business was disrupted in May, about 200 persons lost their jobs. On Thursday, Morgan said the company might re-hire them.
Attorney-at-law Norma Linton appeared with Morgan for the defence, while Dr Adolph Edwards appeared with Barnett for the BGLC.
