Lawyers from gambling company in Curaçao try to silence MP. The Hague - The operator of online gambling games based on Curaçao mBet Solutions has asked the member of parliament Ronald van Raak (SP) to stop talking about the company. He must also adhere to the "constitutional duty to respect the authority of the government in Curaçao."
On behalf of mBet Solutions, the Dutch law firm Gaming Legal Groep warned Van Raak by letter (delivered by a courier) to take steps against him if he does not bind. The letter states that this action consists of informing the media, submitting a complaint to the House of Representatives and going to court.
Van Raak, who, just like journalists who report on the Curacao gambling mafia, often receives intimidating mail, is not impressed by the threats from the Gaming Legal Group and has devoted the following column to it:
COLUMN - Another threatening letter from a gambling boss from Curaçao
By Ronald van Raak
A car from 'Top Koeriers' recently arrived at the SP, with an 'urgent letter' for Ronald van Raak. The letter came from mBet Solutions, an online gambling company that operates internationally from Curaçao. The gambling company threatens me with a process, following a broadcast from BBC Radio about the online gambling industry. Another threatening letter from a gambling boss, that was a while ago. In 2016, Mafia boss Francesco Corallo sent his lawyer Gerard Spong to me, but he broke his teeth on this case. The same Corallo is now on trial in Italy for large-scale fraud and bribing politicians. I also received a strange report from a 'detective' who had been checked in my corridors by order of the former Curacao Prime Minister Gerrit Schotte.
https://koninkrijksrelaties.nu/.../b...-goksector.../).
This writing from mBet Solutions is again strange. The gambling company is angry because I would have called the construction in Curaçao with which they work 'illegal'. But I didn't mention 'mBet Solutions' in the broadcast, I didn't even know the company. Nor did I mention this construction. I did say that I am very concerned about the online gambling sector. In my best English: "In Curacao there are some gambling mafiosi, as I call them, that are doing money laundering." I find it remarkable that this company feels attracted by these words. For years I have been asking questions to the government of Curaçao, but only last year did I get answers to some of them.
The letter was drafted by the lawyers of Gaming Legal Group (GLG) in Halfweg, but is in English. In an unclear argument, the lawyers point to the 'constitutional obligation' to respect the authority of the government of Curaçao. I have bad news for the Gaming Legal Group in Halfweg, because I don't take any of the views of any government for granted. I do my own research and make my own assessments, especially when it comes to the online gambling industry in Curaçao. As a parliamentarian, that is my constitutional task. The Gaming Legal Group also informs me that they will not shy away from informing the media (I think that is very good) and that they will submit a complaint to the Lower House (I find that particularly funny).
On Friday it was announced that former Minister of Curaçao George Jamaloodin was sentenced to 28 years in prison for being involved in the murder of parliamentarian Helmin Wiels. He had announced to make information public about the gambling industry on the island and then bought it with death. Journalists investigating the abuses in the gambling industry in Curaçao are still threatened and intimidated. The Netherlands, which is still responsible for good governance in Curaçao within the Kingdom, should do more to protect these researchers. Despite the nasty letters from mBet Solutions, I, as a Member of Parliament, continue to do my work and I will continue to try to fight fraud and corruption in Curaçao. A struggle that we have fought for many years and of which the people on this beautiful island are now happily seeing the results.
Ronald van Raak is a member of the House of Representatives for the SP and party spokesperson for Kingdom Relations.
NB from the editor:
Who hides behind mBet Solutions is not easy to find out. The company is managed by Xecutive Corporate Management BV in Willemstad, of which Christopher van Rosberg and Andy Paul Senior are the directors.
Many providers of online gambling games that operate under a Curacao (sub) license are controlled on paper by a trust office. From the trust office, the trail often leads to a jumble of companies in countries that are known to facilitate the laundering of criminal profits. The Dutch Gaming Authority regularly imposes high fines on officially established gambling companies in Curaçao, but rarely manages to collect them. The Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten rarely acts as a supervisor against trust offices that engage with dubious providers of online casinos.
mBet Solutions is the owner of Bitcasino.io, among others, that is poorly regarded by users.
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COMMENTS - Curacao's gambling sector out of the closet, but soon back on.
For years the gambling sector in Curaçao spoke exclusively through lawyers. Members of the House of Representatives who dared to ask critical questions and journalists who reported about it or who came up with their own disclosures could count on an intimidating letter from a well-paid law firm.
It therefore seemed refreshing that the Curaçao Internet Gaming Association (CIGA) issued an extensive press release last week in which the outside world was given a glimpse into the kitchen of the online gambling industry; at least that is what the interest group wanted us to believe. The frankness was on disappointing rather disappointing.
The reason for the CIGA to come out of the closet is a three-part documentary by BBC Radio for which the makers traveled to Willemstad to shed light on the dark sides of the extensive gambling sector on the island that is home to hundreds of millions of dollars. Kingdom relations. Now under the heading 'Curacao gambling sector angry with BBC' reported the reaction of the CIGA and added for the benefit of the reader who wants to make his own judgment the original press release from the interest group.
Apparently the CIGA has a taste for coming out, because our editors immediately received a letter from Vice-President George van Zinnicq Bergmann. "First of all I want to thank you for the interest shown in the Curaçao Internet Gaming Association with your piece that was published today on Kingdom Relations.
If a letter starts like this, you as a recipient immediately know that the sender is not at all grateful. As the second sentence confirms: "I would like to point out a number of factual inaccuracies in the message you published." The members apparently do not wish to regard themselves as part of the 'Curacao gambling sector'. "The activities of the members of CIGA have nothing to do with the island gambling sector."
That goes beyond Kingdom Relations. Now beyond: the C of CIGA stands for Curaçao, right? And the members of the CIGA are still based in Curaçao, operating on the basis of a Curaçao (sub) license? Nevertheless, Van Zinnicq Bergmann maintains: "CIGA and its members have as little to do with the island gambling sector as Centrum Supermarket."
By doing so, Kingdom Relations. Now the CIGA is guilty of deception. The statement that the Netherlands Gaming Authority (KSA) is concerned about the online casinos that operate from Willemstad - without adequate supervision - is 'also misleading', according to the vice-president. Oja, also with the conclusion that CIGA is angry at the BCC, we went wrong, according to him: ,, There is no question of anger on the part of CIGA towards BBC. The press release was drafted and sent with the aim of pointing to the misleading information in the production of the BBC. "
Finally: ,, The CIGA is keen to inform you about the aforementioned inaccuracies, because together they lead to a misleading impression about the CIGA and the activities of its members. If you want to publish again in the future about the CIGA and the activities of its members, you can always contact the board for further information or explanation. ” to wipe dirty street we are not going to waste energy. We have, of course, sent a neat response to the Vice-President:
"To make your claim that the reporting of Kingdom Relations. Now" misleading "not to be a slander, you will really have to substantiate this better and certainly not - as you do in your e-mail - be guilty of twisting simply verify facts. I understand that public attention to the dubious practices of online gambling providers based in Curaçao is unwelcome to your organization. If you really want to do something to improve the reputation of the sector, you better focus on combating abuse with the authorities. ”
Member of the Lower House Ronald van Raak (SP) has also received mail from the Curacao gambling sector. On behalf of mBet Solutions, based in Willemstad (or who is a member of the CIGA, we cannot check because the CIGA website is out of the air), the Gaming Legal Group law firm is trying to silence him. Bas Jongmans, the self-acclaimed international fame (winner of 'interesting' procedures and holding office in a building where 'prestigious' companies are located and where the television program The Voice of Holland has been recorded, he sniffs on his website) summons Van Raak to commit . Otherwise the media will be informed and a complaint will be submitted to the House of Representatives. A silly threat that you could have had a good laugh about if the impact of the gambling mafia on society were not so disruptive.
NB for the Young Men of this world: True by Kingdom Relations. Nowadays 'gambling mafia' is meant, of course, not the bona fide gambling providers, but the companies that are under a Curaçao (sub) license, making use of the lack of adequate supervision, operate online casinos to launder criminal income, finance activities such as human trafficking, arms trafficking, drug transport and terrorism, or cheat unsuspecting players by paying out a minimal percentage of the proceeds.
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