In Uruguay, Javier Cha, director general of Casinos de Uruguay confirmed that the company’s new gaming venue, situated at the new $36m Rio Branco Shopping Centre Hotel and Bus Terminal on the country’s Brazilian border will open this year.
The casino will be situated in a vast duty free complex currently under construction by Duty Free Americas Uruguay. The project includes a 10,000sqm duty free shop, along with 11 commercial stores, a large food court and a bus terminal.
“We are moving quickly here,” Cha stated. “It is a fabulous project which is being realised in Rio Branco and we will support it with a …large casino.”
In Argentina news, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes’ arbitration tribunal “Casinos Austria v. Argentina” confirmed its jurisdiction in a damages claim by the company on 29 June.
At the end of 2014, Casinos Austria International made a legal challenge for $150m in compensation from Argentina and Salta province, after the provincial authorities revoked the gaming licence for its subsidiary, Enjasa in 2013. Salta’s regulator claimed that the decision to revoke the licence was taken after Enjasa “systematically failed to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.”
In the Dominican Republic, the Attorney General’s office has undertaken a number of simultaneous operations throughout the country as part of a crackdown on illegal slot machines.
The large-scale crackdown on unlicensed gaming machines in grocery stores, bars, and other locations, has led to over 100 arrests, and was personally coordinated by the Attorney General, Jean Alain Rodriguez.
“The use of these devices in unauthorised locations not only represents a violation of the law, but also puts vulnerable sectors of society at risk,” he contended.
Rodriguez added that the action was taken in response to “hundreds of requests” made to his office during community meetings.
