The judicial war between the Superintendence of Casinos (SJC) and the North American Thunderbird group has been intensified by the legal teams of other contenders for the 17 new casino licences in Chile. The Spanish company Cirsa was the first to announce that it would serve papers against the legal action taken by Thunderbird Resorts to paralyse the selection process. The Court of Appeal has already rejected three of the four suits by the SJC demanding the process continue uninterrupted.

Information from Santiago indicates that the Chilean companies Fischer and Enjoy and Pinnacle of the US are consulting with their legal advisers over the possibility of intervening to get the Thunderbird suit overturned. Helios Navarro, General Manager of Cirsa Casinos de Juegos de Chile SA, stated that he had total confidence in both the authority of the Chilean law and the whole licensing process.

Navarro claimed that “although everyone has the right to take any action deemed necessary, it seems totally inappropriate to question the integrity of the authority because of an adverse ruling.” He went on to say that the paralysation of the licensing process implied a risk to the investment of large sums of money, “which seems particularly grave when we are talking about projects bringing direct benefits to the regions.”

Having seen other judicial battles between casino companies in other countries, the only certainty is that the lawyers get richer and nothing positive emerges for either the industry or society. Thunderbird, the SJC and the other companies now considered as third parties all profess to trust in the due process of Chilean Law. If this is actually the case, then they should leave the judiciary to resolve the problem. The ruling halting the licensing process does affect the other investors, whether local or foreign, but this does not mean that combining their forces will alter the balance in their favour.

In England at the end of the 70s, the two largest casino companies each, in its moment of course, decided to support the authorities in their quest to correct supposed transgressions committed by the other. The result was that the authorities closed the casinos of both the companies, with the resulting loss of hundreds of jobs and millions in investment. Along the years and in many societies, firms have attempted by any means to eliminate their competition. When this happens in the gaming industry the media and the general public only see the negative elements of gambling and associate it with social evil.

Justice needs neither lobbies nor a ganging up to sway an outcome and, like the responsible gaming companies in Chile, we believe that the Chilean judiciary and Supreme Court will resolve the issue between Thunderbird and the SJC according to the Law and Constitution of Chile. What the Chilean law courts do not need is the abominable South American legal entourage that invariably raises its ugly corrupt head whenever it smells money. With more legal eagles in the fray there will be no way of keeping some of the shadier elements in the profession from playing the old ‘compadre’ card of the ubiquitous old boy network. This, as we say in South America, happens in the best of families.
(E-01.05.06)

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