BGLC orders probe in Athanas case
BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer Writer
Sunday, November 20, 2005
WALTER Scott, chairman of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), has ordered an immediate investigation into the circumstances which led to the dismissal of its case against Spiros Athanas, whose internet gaming operation was shut down last year.
At the same time, Michael Surridge, former head of the Revenue Protection Division (RPD), is also fuming over charges that his no show as witness resulted in the case against Athanas being dismissed by the court.
Last week, Athanas, the operator of the Montego Bay Free Zone based betting operation, who was alleged to have breached the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act, had all eight counts on which he was indicted, dropped.
The BGLC's lead lawyer, Dr Lloyd Barnett, told the court that the commission could not proceed further as Surridge had failed to show to give testimony.
Repeated attempts to reach Barnett and his co-counsel in the case, Adolph Edwards, were unsuccessful.
Contacted Thursday, Scott, a lawyer, said he only knew of the outcome after reading the Sunday Observer's report.
"I can't tell you anything. Just to say I read it in your paper, and immediately after, I ordered an investigation into the matter," said Scott.
He said he has given his investigators one week to get the findings to him.
Surridge, who led the investigations against Athanas, was even more annoyed.
"Nobody asked me to attend court. I did not know and could not know from England, that the case was even listed for hearing. Furthermore, the Financial Investigation Division has informed me that they were not asked to contact me for court," Surridge charged.
His testimony was crucial to the case, as it was a sting operation set up by FID that brought Athanas Internet sports betting organisation down.
The BGLC shut down the operation in 2004, allegedly for taking bets illegally via the Internet and international toll-free telephone calls.
The BGLC had also ruled that Athanas, one of the owners of Olympic Sports Data Services Limited, was not a "fit and proper person" to run a gaming operation.
Surridge and the BGLC began to focus on the company when the British gaming board accused it of illegal bookmaking.
Surridge, who now resides in the United Kingdom, told the Sunday Observer via email said he was never contacted to give testimony.
Clayton Morgan, one of the attorneys for Athanas, said last week that the matter had come before the court 12 times, and that Surridge was never present at any of the hearings.
However, a representative of the RPD has been at the hearings.
But Surridge said FID knows how to contact him, and that only recently he signed statements in another case.
"Each week I receive telephone calls from Jamaica...," he said.
In the meantime, Athanas is free to resume betting, as long as he does not take local bets, his lawyers said.
Last year, the BGLC which regulates the Jamaican gaming industry, after months of investigations, 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.
BY ERICA VIRTUE Sunday Observer Writer
Sunday, November 20, 2005
WALTER Scott, chairman of the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC), has ordered an immediate investigation into the circumstances which led to the dismissal of its case against Spiros Athanas, whose internet gaming operation was shut down last year.
At the same time, Michael Surridge, former head of the Revenue Protection Division (RPD), is also fuming over charges that his no show as witness resulted in the case against Athanas being dismissed by the court.
Last week, Athanas, the operator of the Montego Bay Free Zone based betting operation, who was alleged to have breached the Betting Gaming and Lotteries Act, had all eight counts on which he was indicted, dropped.
The BGLC's lead lawyer, Dr Lloyd Barnett, told the court that the commission could not proceed further as Surridge had failed to show to give testimony.
Repeated attempts to reach Barnett and his co-counsel in the case, Adolph Edwards, were unsuccessful.
Contacted Thursday, Scott, a lawyer, said he only knew of the outcome after reading the Sunday Observer's report.
"I can't tell you anything. Just to say I read it in your paper, and immediately after, I ordered an investigation into the matter," said Scott.
He said he has given his investigators one week to get the findings to him.
Surridge, who led the investigations against Athanas, was even more annoyed.
"Nobody asked me to attend court. I did not know and could not know from England, that the case was even listed for hearing. Furthermore, the Financial Investigation Division has informed me that they were not asked to contact me for court," Surridge charged.
His testimony was crucial to the case, as it was a sting operation set up by FID that brought Athanas Internet sports betting organisation down.
The BGLC shut down the operation in 2004, allegedly for taking bets illegally via the Internet and international toll-free telephone calls.
The BGLC had also ruled that Athanas, one of the owners of Olympic Sports Data Services Limited, was not a "fit and proper person" to run a gaming operation.
Surridge and the BGLC began to focus on the company when the British gaming board accused it of illegal bookmaking.
Surridge, who now resides in the United Kingdom, told the Sunday Observer via email said he was never contacted to give testimony.
Clayton Morgan, one of the attorneys for Athanas, said last week that the matter had come before the court 12 times, and that Surridge was never present at any of the hearings.
However, a representative of the RPD has been at the hearings.
But Surridge said FID knows how to contact him, and that only recently he signed statements in another case.
"Each week I receive telephone calls from Jamaica...," he said.
In the meantime, Athanas is free to resume betting, as long as he does not take local bets, his lawyers said.
Last year, the BGLC which regulates the Jamaican gaming industry, after months of investigations, 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.