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The Alderney Gambling Control Commission has finally suspended the license of Sheriff Gaming following a series of highly publicized raids in the Netherlands.
Alderney was center stage in the 2011 scandal involving Full Tilt Poker. The online gambling regulator continued to allow Full Tilt to operate despite indictments lodged against its executives by officials in the US. Full Tilt Poker still owes millions of dollars to customers residing in the United States. Alderney eventually pulled Full Tilt’s license months later.
In regard to Sheriff Gaming, the Commission said it had “issued a Hearing Notice under Regulation 90 of the Alderney eGambling Regulations, 2009 to [Bubble Group MV] which trades as Sheriff Gaming.”
A probe by Dutch authorities into a massive drug trafficking, money laundering and illegal Internet gambling business led to scrutiny of the Bubble Group’s Sheriff Gaming online casino operations back in late May.
150 investigators from the Dutch Prosecuting Authority (Openbaar Ministerie) are said to be involved in the investigation that resulted in arrests of three individuals including AmsterdamCasino.com founder Michael Gregoire. Sheriff Gaming was not initially named in the probe though its offices were raided.
Sheriff Gaming released the following statement immediately following the raids:
Speaking on behalf of Sheriff Gaming with regards to the recent press allegations, Ellen Huijbers, Compliance Officer at Sheriff Gaming has issued a statement: “Until now the justice department has not given any inside information on the evidence on which the allegations in the press are based.
Therefore it is still uncertain whether there are any (direct) links between the allegations and Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group. We have requested the justice department to provide more information regarding the position of Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group. We are confident that Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group will soon be fully discharged of all possible accusations.
Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group wishes to stipulate one more time that so far no evidence what so ever has been presented and furthermore thanks every one for the warm and continued support. We trust that the strong reputation of Sheriff Gaming/Bubble Group will contribute to the continued support of the market in these difficult times.”
André Wilsenach, executive director of the AGCC, was unable to elaborate on the circumstances of the suspension. He told iNTERGAMINGi magazine: “The matter is subject to a forthcoming hearing by the Commission and pending that hearing I am afraid I can add nothing to the content of the notice I have already issued.”
- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com
