Brads Gaming Company sees exclusive license for Government lottery revoked; last draw is April 30

Published by BBNTEAM at April 26, 2023

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Posted: Wednesday, April 26, 2023. 3:47 pm CST.

By Aaron Humes: Sunday’s Lottery Draw will be the last, the Government has announced, for Brads Gaming Group Limited and possibly for the near future, after the Lotteries Committee at its April 20 meeting revoked its license “due to material and substantial breaches of the conditions of the exclusive license, and the Lotteries Act and its regulations.”

Therefore, following Monday’s Labour Day holiday, Brads Gaming no longer holds the license to sell or administer Government Lotteries including Boledo, Sunday Jackpot, and other Ordinary Lotteries (such as Fantasy 5 and Pick 3). The government plans “alternative arrangements” for its administration under a standard that will not, it says, violate consumer rights, and ensure that necessary income and revenue from the Lotteries can be generated to fund National Health Insurance and other costs.

Back in December, the chair of the Committee and CEO in the Office of the Prime Minister Narda Garcia wrote the chair of Brads Gaming Kim Chee with a 12-point list of complaints including sale of tickets, auditing and data collection. Prime Minister John Briceno told reporters afterwards that the Government had given Brads Gaming opportunities to start complying with the terms of their license dating back to the middle of last year and that this was the last straw.

Two weeks later, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow hit back, serving notice that Countach Technologies Limited, based in the Cayman Islands, would invoke article 8 of the Belize-UK Investment Treaty, arguing that per High Court precedent, if it can be proven that the license was properly awarded, then there must be compensation if the license is revoked. Today’s release does not mention any compensation to the shareholders of Brads Gaming, which reportedly include Barrow’s son Anwar.

Barrow added that Countach had invested in BGGL after their second license was awarded and after the change of Government in November 2020, meaning it all happened under the current P.M.’s watch.

It now remains to be seen whether the two sides work out compensation, or proceed to international arbitration, which would be the second such invocation by a company associated with Lord Michael Ashcroft following Waterloo Investments and the Port of Belize Limited’s tangle over a proposed cruise port and expanded cargo port in Port Loyola.

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