Last week news emerged from the US Justice Department of a Capone type bust on an Antigua based online casino business: “The government dismantled a $2.5 billion offshore Internet gambling operation,” the Justice Department said Wednesday, charging two fugitives and their companies with laundering gambling proceeds from Internet casino games and sporting events.

Citing the Wire and Travel Acts, the US Government started its campaign strategy against charges by the Antigua and Barbuda Government of failing to adhere to a WTO mandate by using the oldest trick in the book, attacking the gaming legislation of the tiny Caribbean country with a contrived charge as a defensive weapon.

Simply, the US Government is telling the world: Look, see, we told you that online gambling, and especially Antigua, is involved in fraud and money laundering, amongst other dastardly things. How could we accept the WTO ruling against us and allow our citizens to gamble online and contribute to these crimes?

On April 7 2005, The World Trade Organization ruled that some US legislation discriminates against foreign gambling operators, but that it may keep some restrictions on Internet gambling to protect public morals or maintain public order. The WTO ruling said that some US federal laws, particularly the Wire Act, barring offshore wagers are inconsistent with global trade rules.

Whatever the charges against the Bermuda gambling operators by the US Government, this latest sally is on a par with branding the energy industry as illegal or criminal because of the Enron multi billion fraud. The charges may have the support of the US judiciary, as the Bush administration fights a losing battle against online gaming, but the country just has to accept the fact that the US has to comply with WTO rulings.

In an incensed reply, the Antiguan Government issued a press release defending the accused. Antiguan ambassador to the WTO, John W. Ashe said: “These indictments, coming at a time when the United States is supposed to be undertaking efforts to comply with the rulings of the WTO, are surely no coincidence. It is more than a little ironic that the United States Department of Justice has chosen to single out for prosecution a well-known gaming service provider from Antigua, a jurisdiction that has been leading global efforts to license, regulate, supervise and oversee a robust yet clean and safe gaming industry over the Internet – and the only jurisdiction to take on the United States at the World Trade Organization - and win - on this exact issue.”

The Antigua document adds: “Under WTO procedures, the United States had until 3 April 2006 to comply with the rulings of the WTO in the gambling case. Having initially stated that coming into compliance would involve significant legislative efforts, the United States made a surprise announcement at the WTO meeting last month that it was already in compliance with the adverse ruling, despite having taken no apparent corrective action at all.”

The Antiguan Solicitor General and Chairman of Antigua’s Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Lebrecht Hesse announced that his government would lodge a protest over the action of the US Department of Justice, and said: “We trust that the indictments do not represent the official position of the US government and rather represent the work of some over-zealous prosecutor. We look forward to the US administration’s prompt clarification of this most unfortunate incident.” (E-05.22.06)

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