The Government of Belize is gearing up for a fight with the Brads Gaming Group, the company that operates your Boledo and Sunday jackpot.
7news has obtained a letter dated December 23rd where Narda Garcia who is the Chairperson of the Lotteries Committee is basically accusing Brads of breach of contract. She outlines twelve main complaints they have with the way Brads Gaming Group Limited has been handling the Boledo lottery.
Among the issues raised in the five page latter, Garcia notes that for tickets, Licensees must sell and use tickets in the form prescribed by the Lotteries Committee. She says that that Brads does not use and sell tickets prescribed by the Committee.
She then moves on to "tickets mark," where another condition is that lottery tickets sold must bear the mark lodged with the Lotteries Committee. She then points out that BGGL has not lodged a mark with the Committee.
The letter goes on to point out that a licensee must establish a system in tandem with the Income-tax Department and the Lotteries Committee to gather sales data. Garcia asserts that BGGL has yet to consult with the Lotteries Committee on this system. The Committee is unaware if and how the licensee collects, verifies, and records accurate sales data.
Garcia then points to their complaint that all licensees are expected to submit a statement of monthly revenues to the Commissioner of Income Tax, a report that should be copied to the Lotteries Committee. Those statements must include information on sales, commissions paid out to agents, and expenses. In addition, by the end of the financial year, a licensee is expected to produce a statement showing how the Government's share of the profit has been calculated.
On this matter, Chairperson Garcia points out to Kim Chee that in November 2021, BGGL provided "monthly reports" for the period between March 31, 2020, and October 31, 2021. However, she alleges that in some cases, the monthly reports are done more than a year after the date they should have been provided.
Garcia then moves on to another regulation that obliges all licensees to hire an independent lottery expert to audit the lottery process and equipment yearly. She says, quote, "Since the grant of the Licence, BGGL has not attempted to obtain the approval of the Lotteries Committee to contract an independent lottery expert." End quote.
She then turns to what the Committee insists is a failure to implement electronic access or handheld systems for customers to get access to the boledo.
She closes off her letter by pointing out that the Committee intends to consider revoking BGGL's license. They have until January 16, 2023, to provide a written response to why they may dispute the alleged breaches.
This morning, we reached out to Dean Barrow, the attorney representing BGGL, and he told us, "We are consulting with our clients and have no comment at this time."
