Canadian DEFRAUDED? CASINO RIP???

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chic

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Nov 20, 2013
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81-year Canadian investor defrauded in Dominican casino deal

Things did not turn out as planned for a Canadian who invested in Dominican casinos. According to the Dominican Republic Tax Agency (DGII), 28,859 lottery establishments and 1,822 sports betting shops operate legally here, which would mean Dominicans gamble a lot. Together with casinos already in operation, this attracted the Canadian multi-millionaire investor, 81-year old Michael DeGroote, together with his partners, an old friend Andrew Pajak and the brothers Francesco and Antonio Carbone to invest in Dominican casino operations. Media reports highlight how the business went sour, not because Dominicans were gambling less, but because of differences and background of the partners. The casino deal also included operations in Jamaica.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation says that the gambling venture was headed by three businessmen with ties to organized crime, and is now locked in an international fight over Caribbean casinos with links to one of Canada's most feared Mafia clans.

CBC and The Globe and Mail have investigated the case for a year, writing that the companies known as the Dream Group have now descended into a bitter conflict of alleged murder plots, threats, armed robbery and bribery allegations, featuring an underworld roster right up to the late Montreal godfather Vito Rizzuto.

Dominican employees were caught in the middle. According to the DGII, the company DeGroote bankrolled, called Dream, has 57 sport betting shops and 51 lottery outlets. In addition, one of the Dream casinos has been seized due to debts and the employees complain they have not been paid.

Dream casinos are located in Punta Cana, La Romana and Puerto Plata: the Dreams Palm Beach Punta Cana, Dreams Punta Cana Resort & Spa, Dreams La Romana Resort & Spa, Dream Casino Dominicus, and Dream Casino Marien in Puerto Plata.

The Jamaica Observer reports that DeGroote initially agreed to put up US$5 million in December 2010 and by May 2012, the billionaire's total underwriting of the Caribbean operations stood at US$111.9 million. It adds that The Dream Group was making good on its loans, but in May 2012, the payments to DeGroote stopped. In October of that year, DeGroote sued to get access to the company's books alleging the Carbones and Pajak had misappropriated portions of the funds.

The case was taken to the courts in Canada. In a development on 26 January, National District Prosecutor Yeni Berenice Reynoso detained one of the executives of Dream Casinos Corporation, Antonio Carbone, accusing him of the attempted murder of lawyer Fernando Arturo Baez Guerrero. She said that she would be asking for him to be remanded in prison.

National Investigation Department (DNI) agents arrested Carbone at Punta Cana airport on Sunday, 25 January, as
 

chic

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Nov 20, 2013
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nOTHING NEW HERE....Howard Hughes came to Vegas with 120mil....and left with 75mil...so said the mob...and this is 50 years ago
 
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