In a press conference held today, Goa’s casino operators have denied statements in the media that they are party to illegal financial transactions. They claim that quotes from a report by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) have been taken out of context and that many potentially illegal transactions were reported to the FIU last year by casino operators.
John Snowball, Vice President, Gaming Operations of Crown Lounge and Casinos says that because the operators regularly update the authorities, the FIU’s annual report pointed out 8,000 suspicious financial transactions. He added that all off-shore vessels are subject to 24hr CCTV surveillance and that all visits are recorded manually also. Staff training is ongoing to enable the identification of counterfeit currency and money laundering activity.
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Casino operators in Goa are also concerned by a ban on the sale of alcohol after 11 pm until 5 February and after 10 pm until 6 March. The ban has been imposed by the Election Commission until after Election Day. The operators have asked the State Chief Secretary to reconsider the ban as some 90% of customers are tourists and the ban is hurting business. One operator says business is down 70% since the ban came into force two days ago. (E-01.27.12)
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