A consultancy owned by former Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) CEO Mario Galea is under investigation in Curaçao over allegations that it received annual payments of 8.3 million Caribbean guilders or €4.1 million from the Curaçao Gaming Authority (CGA).
The finance chief of Curaçao Charles Cooper stated that an inquiry is being started regarding the payments made to Random Consulting Limited (RCL), which plays an important role in the island’s online gambling laws set up. According to him, the payments to RCL are too high and comprise more than one-third of the money the government makes from online gaming.
Curaçao’s Minister of Finance, Charles Cooper, said:
The world of gaming shows that this figure – paying a person/company 8.3 million XCG per year – is very high for a company charged to provide such a service, but we should let the investigation run its course and then take next steps based on its result
Cooper added that authorities would determine any next steps after the inquiry concludes.
The investigation occurs in particularly turbulent times for Curaçao’s politics and regulatory environment. It was initiated shortly after the resignation of Finance Minister Javier Silvania during the corruption scandal in late 2021. The gambling regulation is still remaining difficult to define between the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice.
RCL completely denied the claims by stating that it has not committed any violations and has not acted wrong.
RCL rejected Cooper’s figures claiming that the company has not received a total of 4.1 million euros, as stated in the audited report, but only 3.43 million euros since 2022. The company also objected to the claim made by Cooper that RCL’s fees should be equivalent to 35% of the total gambling revenues of Curaçao that means the total income of the regulator has to be over 29 million euros per year in licence fees.
The statement read:
RCL has provided the CGA with regulatory platforms, hosting, maintenance, operational support, application processing, licence monitoring, domain surveillance and additional functionality. It has also assumed responsibilities outside the original scope and deferred payments at the government’s request. RCL will not accept inaccurate public statements that misrepresent the nature, value or cost of its work.
The outcome of the current investigation could have broader implications for Curaçao’s regulatory reforms.
