FNM leader Hubert Minnis yesterday called for the immediate closure of illegal gambling and lottery operations, as law enforcement have more than enough justification to take action. Mr Minnis blasted police chief Ellison Greenslade and the government for “inordinate delay” following Chief Justice Michael Barnett’s decision to lift an interlocutory order that protected gaming web shops.

#The party is lobbying for the immediate closure of all illegal gaming operations through the execution of search warrants to confiscate all “computer terminals, servers and ATM machines” used to facilitate transactions occurring at web shops or in private homes. Crown attorneys Lauren Klein, Darren Henfield, Darcell Williamson and Melissa Wright-Knowles, moved to have the January 30 court order lifted in a hearing before the Chief Justice a week ago.

#They argued that operators had themselves admitted they were engaging in gaming and that such activities went outside of what they were licensed to do as web shop cafe operators. However, attorneys for the plaintiffs noted that the Crown did not dispute that there was a meeting between the operators and the Ministry of Finance in April 2010 when full disclosure of their operations was made to the government and their licenses were renewed. On April 10, Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett ruled that “the police must be allowed to enforce the law unless and until the law has been declared to be invalid.”

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