By Glenroy Sinclair, Staff ReporterAS THE Government intensifies its probe into last Saturday's multimillion-dollar illegal Cash Pot bust, summonses for 119 vendors, employed by the network, are now being drafted by the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Commission (BGLC).
"These vendors are from across the Corporate Area and they were caught at the headquarters (at 5 Lyndhurst Crescent) during the time when the operation was carried out," Walter Scott, chairman of the BGLC, told The Gleaner yesterday.
MASSIVE RAID
He said the operation was specifically carried out at 7:25 p.m., when all the vendors had returned to the headquarters. The Gleaner understands that prior to Saturday's massive raid by members of the Financial Crimes Unit and the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries' Law Enforcement Team, the Lyndhurst Crescent base had been under surveillance for some time.
With a Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) helicopter hovering overhead providing cover, scores of police personnel from the two units, quickly cordonned off the area. Cash, records and other documents were seized.
A release from the BGLC said the arrests were the result of months of investigation carried out by its staff, the Advisory Management Services, and the Financial Investigations Division of the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
200 UNDERGROUND WORKERS
Reports are that the illegal operation provided employment for up to 2,000 people.
"We have heard that but right now we have documents which speak for about 200," said Mr. Scott.
Cash Pot is operated by Supreme Ventures Limited, a Kingston-based company located at 28 Barbados Avenue, New Kingston. The game is played by patrons who purchase numbers from 1 to 36.
The dividend depends on how much money the winning number is purchased for. For example, the dividend on a $100 number is
about $2,600. In a statement published in The Gleaner last month, Supreme Ventures said it saw the rise in illegal games as the biggest threat to its operation.
The BGLC chairman disclosed yesterday that from the sum of money seized Saturday night, roughly $500,000 worth of $20 coins have already been counted. He said counting continues. He also said the network generated about $60 million per week.
"This is our first major bust. Last year we arrested 97 persons, more than 50 were charged with illegal Cash Pot (sales)," said Mr. Scott.
In the meantime, the alleged operator of the business, 56-year-old Patrick Chang, and seven of his employees: John Ziadie, 48, of Hope Boulevard, Kingston 6; Orlando Nerhoo, 18; Haneif Nerhoo, 23; both of Lower Mall Road, Kingston 11; Omar Nerhoo, 32, of 311 Molynes Road, Kingston 19; Junior Lyn, 29, of 12 Glen Drive, Kingston 8; Natasha Graham, 21, of 43 Nelson Road, Kingston 13 and Lisa Turner, 23, of 24 Kidd Lane, Kingston 13, were scheduled to appear in the Corporate Area Criminal Court yesterday. However, the date has been rescheduled for this Thursday.
ANSWERING CHARGES
Chang and company will answer to charges of breaches of the Betting, Gaming and Lotteries Act and conspiracy to defraud.
Under the Act, each person who is found guilty of the offence of unlawful betting, is subject to a maximum fine of $25,000 or six months imprisonment at hard labour.
A person who uses a premises for unlawful betting is subject to a maximum fine of $75,000 or six months imprisonment at hard labour. The commission said it has proposed amendments to the Act, including an increase in the maximum fine to $500,000 or 12 months imprisonment at hard labour.
