Philipsburg:--- The Government of St. Maarten (Minister of Economic Affairs and Tourism, Romeo Pantophlet) was given ten weeks by the Court of First Instance starting June 25th, 2012 to take a decision against Robbie's Lottery (Smart-play). According to court documents provided to SMN News, the Court of First Instance ordered the Minister to take a decision against Robbie's Lottery because the company is operating without a number game license since 2009. The judgment which was rendered on June 25th, 2012 states that the government of St. Maarten, namely the Minister of Economic Affairs has ten weeks in which to take a decision and should they not comply with the court's order, the government of St. Maarten would be faced with a penalty of Naf. 200.00 per day with a maximum of Naf. 50,000.00.
The brother of Robbie Dos Santos, Ramesis Jamaloodin filed a case against the government of St. Maarten with the Court of First Instance after sending the former Executive Council a letter informing them that Robbie's Lottery (Smart-play) does not have a license to operate number games on St. Maarten. According to the letter of June 25th, 2010 to the Executive Council, Smart Play is in possession of a video gaming license and not a number game license. In the past, Smart Play was operating under JAMAROMA license which it is understood belongs to Ramesis Jamaloodin.
The letter further indicated that because of the type of license Smart Play has, the company has been cheating government on its monthly license fees. Ramesis said in his letter that holders of video gaming licenses have to pay government Naf.12,500 monthly and if they had the proper license which is number game license then they would have had to pay government Naf. 30,000.00 per month in licensing fees.
According to reliable sources, a top civil servant on St. Maarten that works with the lotteries commission was questioned by detectives recently on the operations of Robbie's Lottery. The source said the civil servant had to provide law enforcement with answers as to why Robbie's Lottery was allowed to operate without a business license on St. Maarten.
It should be noted that a joint investigation is being conducted on the operations of Robbie's Lottery. Earlier this year police on Curacao and St. Maarten raided Robbie Dos Santos' establishments on both countries while his homes were also searched.
According to reliable information provided to SMN News, Robbie Dos Santos has over 100 million United States Dollars in liquid cash and just recently the American government namely the FBI invited Dos Santos to the United States and questioned him on how acquired his wealth. SMN News further learnt that the FBI instructed Dos Santos not to make any withdrawals from his accounts in the US territory. The source said Dos Santos has 30 million dollars in banks on USA shores while he also has accounts in Cayman Islands, Switzerland, and other destinations.
They said Dos Santos was told that the US government will not place a lien on the accounts since they are only now investigating the source of the businessman's income and wealth. It is also understood that while Curacao is conducting a criminal investigation against Dos Santos, he is currently lying low in Colombia.
SMN News further learnt that Ramesis Jamaloodin has refused to cooperate with the police and its investigators citing that most of the police officers that are investigating the case are being paid by Dos Santos. The businessman also alleged that politicians on St. Maarten failed to take action because many of them are being financed by Dos Santos. The source further claimed that they know for sure that at least one political party that contested the 2010 elections on St. Maarten was financed by Dos Santos.
Chief Prosecutor Hans Mos said in an invited comment that currently a criminal investigation is being conducted against Robbie's Lottery (Robbie Dos Santos) and when that investigation is completed St. Maarten will take a decision on how to proceed.
