Operator News
Panama – Gaming corruption scandal hits son of ex Panama President
By Phil - 24 April 2015
The son of former President of Panama Ricardo Martinelli Linares, is being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutors office over alleged links with gaming company Global Investment Group (GIM) which operates a televised bingo game called Buko Millonario.
The investigation comes after an anonymous tip off was filed with the prosecutor’s which revealed alleged links with the company Grupo de Inversión Mundial (GIM).
The complaint alleged that Omar Chen Chan, former director of the National Lottery, and Jackeline Chan Watson, president of GIM, were associated with Martinelli Linares who approached him so that he could use his influence in order that they would be granted the award for offering televised bingo. The charges were first announced last month.
According to local news portal La Prensa Chan de Watson and Chen Chan have had a business relationship for some time, and used Egbert Agustín Wright, who owns 45 percent of the shares of GIM, as a front to conceal their partnership. The paper also alleges that the remaining 55 percent of the shares, which belong to a company called San Cristóbal Ltd are in fact controlled by the ex President’s son.
The concession was granted during the administration of Ricardo Martinelli Linares and, according to investigations and audits carried out by the Panamanian Gaming Control Board (JCJ), the company never submitted details outlining the exact nature of their shareholding correctly. Given this anomaly, the JCJ decided to cancel the contract in 2014.
The company signed the licence agreement contract on July 7, 2011. The company was given permission to operate televised bingo for twenty years. In nearly nine months of operation, Buko Millionaire earned gross revenues of around U$S12.5m.
This has been the latest in a number of high profile scandals which have revolved around the gaming industry and at the highest levels. In 2009 the Attorney General accused former President of the Republic, Ernesto Pérez Balladares of favouring a number of gambling companies when he privatised the casinos in Panama in the late 1990s. In January 14, 2010, he was placed under house arrest over accusations that he accepted money from Lucky Games SA casino – the first arrest of a former Panamanian president.
