Dutch MP resurrects questions on Curacao regulator

Dutch Socialist Party MP Ronald Van Raak has once again raised the perceived flaws in the Curacao online gambling regulatory structure, writing to Minister of Kingdom Relations Ronald Plasterk to ask:

“Do you agree that Curaçao has failed in its supervision on the gambling sector? If so, what role do you see for the Kingdom to eliminate these administrative abuses?”

Minister Plasterk diplomatically dodged the question by responding that he takes reports about abuses seriously, but that law enforcement is primarily an autonomous matter for Curaçao, although the Netherlands does offer the Caribbean jurisdiction support in addressing economic and financial crime.

Plasterk has yet to answer Van Raak’s further probing concerning events in Curacao, which include clarification that the Curaçao telecommunication company UTS, which facilitates online casinos and SMS lotteries, is not about to buy a controlling interest in the financially troubled datacentre operator Curaçao Technology Exchange NV (CTEX) as a means of extending its online gambling activity.

Late last year UTS director Paul de Geus denied any ambition to take over CTEX, which has serious financial problems, and claimed that UTS is interested only in protecting its investment in the ailing company.

Van Raak has persisted in asking questions about the governance of UTS, most recently asking Plasterk:

“How do you explain that UTS and its subsidiaries are public companies, but do not belong to the country and its institutions, and that supervision is not authorized by the General Court of Auditors?”

Van Raak is also stirring the coals (for reasons that are not clear from an article this week in the Curacao Chronicle) over three online casino operations and their alleged association with two Dutch companies, Yellowstone and Tecst International.

He has singled out the now shuttered Bell Mark Casino, along with Emu Casino and Sun Casino, asking questions regarding the online gambling master licensor in Curacao:

“When and by whom was the construction master license holder and sub-holder for online gambling, especially from the e-zones, conceived and implemented?”

Minister Platerk’s response – if any – is not recorded.