Turkish businessman Sudi Ozkan is best known in Bulgaria for his gambling business. In March 2007 the Bulgarian prosecutor's office dropped proceedings against members of the State Gambling Commission over an alleged illegal issue of a licence to Ozkan because of lack of evidence. Just four months later he opened a US$4 million casino in the Bulgarian city of Svilengrad on the border with Turkey and Greece. Ozkan also owns casinos at the Princess and Rodina hotels in Sofia.

As far back as May 2000 experts at the Turkish Finance Ministry claimed that 95% of proceeds from Ozkan’s 18 casinos, in Belize, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia, were undeclared and being deposited in various bank accounts, including a total US$680 million via his daughter’s account to Switzerland. This year Ozkan opened a Crowne Plaza hotel in Belarus having spent US$50 million refurbishing Stalin’s favourite hotel and creating the largest casino in Minsk.

The next project of this Turkish businessman is to build a casino at Providence in Guyana. Having bought Buddy’s International Hotel, built for last year’s Cricket World Cup, Ozkan wants to operate a casino there. As yet there are no casinos in the country but President Bharat Jagdeo recently said that draft regulations for the establishment of a gaming authority to facilitate casino gambling should soon be on the Cabinet agenda. (E-08.25.08)

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