Web shops have provided no evidence for their “bold assertion” that they are in compliance with the Business Licence Act, the Government alleging they “openly admitted, on numerous occasions and platforms”, to being involved in illegal gambling.
Drawing on numerous sources to support the Government’s argument that the Supreme Court should not grant an injunction preventing a web shop industry shut-down, Deirdre Clarke-Maycock, an attorney with the Attorney General’s Office, said the Bahamian public’s interest would be “irreparably harmed” if this happened.
Noting that the companies – FML, Paradise Games, Percy’s Web Cafe, Island Luck, Whatfall, Asue Draw and Chances Internet Services – claimed to collectively operate 134 web shops, Ms Clarke-Maycock said there were only “a limited number of provisions”in the Business Licence Act that a company had to comply with.
Effectively dismissing as insignificant the web shop industry’s assertion that it was in compliance with the Business Licence Act, she alleged that a Ministry of Finance official, Joseph Mullings, was unable to confirm whether this was so.
Drawing on numerous public statements by the web shop operators, Ms Clarke-Maycock alleged: “It is clear that the various plaintiffs have openly admitted, on numerous occasions and on various platforms, that their business involves gambling, and that what is offered is inter alia the numbers game, as contemplated in the Lotteries and Gaming Act.”
