During the course of Festival Del Mar, over the past weekend, it became known that a long-established lottery company in the Dominican Republic, spreading its wings to other parts of the region, is coming to Anguilla on May 1.
Representatives of the company, the CEO of Madroka Anguilla Lottery, Jesús Reolid; and Yamile Gucierrel, the Director; were conspicuously present at Island Harbour Bay distributing information and making other marketing overtures to a number of persons. The lottery company, which will have offices at the Caribbean Commercial Centre in The Valley, has as its legal representative, Attorney Mrs. Keesha Carty whose office is located on the Edward Wallace Rey Drive at George Hill.
Mr. Reolid, an investor in Spanish lotteries and other business ventures in the Dominican Republic, told The Anguillian that a year ago he and other persons visited Anguilla to propose a new lottery company with “a very good platform, technology and very transparent” operations to the Government. He said he was aware that the current Spanish lottery in Anguilla was illegal, but nevertheless the games were being discretely played on the island. He saw opportunities to work with the persons involved, thus bringing legality to that lottery and involving them in his own company operations.
Mr. Reolid said the Anguilla Government had expressed an interest in the proposal but the discussions were interrupted by Hurricane Irma. Now that he returned to the island, the talks continued towards an agreement on a licence for the establishment of the Madroka Anguilla Lottery. He said the necessary documents and other arrangements, including the involvement of the Financial Services Commission, and the setting up of offices and accounts, were among matters in hand.
Speaking with a heavy Spanish accent, he stressed that he proposes to involve the persons involved in the Spanish lottery in his operations to create “a very big lottery platform” on the island with up to ten points of operation in Anguilla working in cooperation with the main Madroka Lottery office in the Caribbean Commercial Centre.
Mrs. Keesha Carty, the company’s lawyer, clarified the position stating: “What Mr. Reolid is saying is that when they [the company] came to Anguilla, they realised that the Spanish lottery was being played illegally, but there was a market for the Spanish lottery. So they saw it as an opportunity to come in and remove that illegality, but still cater to the needs of the people.”
She continued: “The aim is to reach out to the persons who have been involved in the Spanish lottery so that they can come under the umbrella of the Madroka Anguilla Lottery. We have not signed the MOU with the Government as yet, but we hope to do that this week before Mr. Reolid goes – but we have gotten approval for the licence. There are two things that we need to complete that we hope will be done within the next week or two. One is to sign the MOU, and we are having a meeting with Dr. [Aidan] Harrigan [Permanent Secretary Finance] this morning. [Secondly],. we have already gone through the draft and part of that is for Madroka Anguilla Lottery Ltd. to have the exclusive right to play the Spanish lottery. The persons operating illegally would not have that right so we would reach out to them in order for them to be in good standing. They [the Madroka Anguilla Lottery] think that it is only fair to give them the opportunity to do it right this time.
“Doing it right is a long and expensive process but, at the end of the day, it is better for the Government because it brings in income. It is better for the people because they will be able to play safely and openly; and there is no hiding and risk of police coming after them. It is better for the merchants because if anything illegal happens – for example if they are robbed – they can legitimately make a complaint and it would be investigated by the police. So it is better for everybody to have the Spanish lottery legal.”
The Anguillian Attorney added: “One of the things that Madroka Anguilla wants to do, in addition to the lottery, is its commitment to paying two percent of its proceeds to social projects in Anguilla.”
Mr. Reolid interrupted, saying: “We must be part of the community.”
