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Alwyn Morris, the new CEO of BodogLife.com (or simply Bodog), insisted that his company is doing fine on Tuesday.
In an interview with Denmark-based online casino news site Online-Casinos.com, Morris responded to news on Gambling911.com this past week that Bodog had laid off more than 200 people.
"The layoffs in question have actually taken place with a firm that provides Bodog some software and marketing support, but we are confident their service levels to us have not been, and will not be affected," he stated.
But Online-Casinos remained skeptical.
"With strong indications that the companies involved in the staff cuts are more than mere independent suppliers to Bodog - there are alleged ownership links to the company - the statement may be somewhat disingenuous," that website pointed out.
And David Baines of the Vancouver Sun isn't buying any of the "spin" either.
Baines, who has reported extensively on the once thriving Bodog empire, visited the offices of Fiver Media, a support arm of BodogLife.com.
"It's also difficult to determine what's happening at Fiver Media," Baines reported Wednesday in the Vancouver Sun. "On Tuesday, I dropped into its office at 333 Seymour St., but nobody would talk to me."
Prior to BodogLife.com's founder, Calvin Ayre, retiring and vanishing into the sunset, he had ordered all company personnel not to speak with Baines or the Vancouver Sun.
"Fiver Media is run by Jim Phillips, a Vancouver chartered accountant and former senior partner with the Vancouver accounting firm Morgan & Company. Although he was in his office when I dropped by, he did not show his face.
"Phillips prefers to work in the background, Wizard of Oz style. But make no mistake: He has played an instrumental role in the development of Bodog's online gambling activities which, as noted, are viewed as illegal in the United States. I would not be surprised if the U.S. Justice Department doesn't have him, as well as (Calvin) Ayre, in its crosshairs."
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
