By NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Business Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamian web shop industry will likely fall into the hands of organised crime if established operators are forced to shut their businesses down, one of their attorneys telling Tribune Business: “I don’t think people understand how much trouble we are looking at”.

Wayne Munroe, who represents Island Game, Island Luck, FML, Asue Draw, Whatfall and Chances in their ongoing court battle with the Government, said the Bahamas could see a rise in organised crime, similar to the US experience during the alcohol prohibition era, if existing Bahamian operators were forced to shut down.

This, Mr Munroe implied, would drive the industry ‘underground’ or on to the Internet. There, unregulated and untouched by the authorities, it could fall prey to organised crime gangs and money laundering schemes.

“Does anyone really believe it’s going to stop?” the prominent attorney asked. “Gambling is like alcohol; you can prohibit it but you can’t stop it.

“If you look at the history of prohibition, before prohibition the liquor business was done by people of good standing. During prohibition it was run by organised crime, and there was an upsurge in violence connected with it. If people can’t buy their numbers from web shops, from the young girls behind the counter, they’re going to buy them from bookies on the street.

“The bookies, because they handle cash, will have to be armed. You’re likely to have turf wars and a massive upswing in violent crime. Today, if you win, say $5,000, you can feel safe collecting your money. How safe are you going to feel going to a bookie on the street? There will ultimately be conflicts,” said Mr Munroe.

Such concerns have already been expressed. Prime Minister Perry Christie himself said an unregulated web shop gaming industry could attract the unwanted scrutiny of the OECD and G-20 nations, due to the money laundering risk created by hundreds of unsupervised Internet accounts in a multi-million dollar industry. The US State Department’s annual anti-money laundering report, for example, has already identified the potential problems created by the status quo.

Mr Munroe added: “It’s a no brainer. If you say you have an industry making millions, someone is going to try and take advantage of it. If Bahamians like to gamble they will still gamble; you will not stop their habits. The only way you will stop them is if you get them, for a conscience reason, not to do it.

“I have no doubt the people who are going to move forward in this area are going to create a new way of business, and it will go right back to where it was, only not by decent young women behind the counters but by less savoury people.

“I don’t think people understand how much trouble we are looking at. If you outlaw liquor now, people aren’t going to stop drinking. Instead of it being sold by liquor companies and young girls behind the counter, it will be sold by the same people who sell drugs.”

Mr Munroe said he had received indications from his clients that they had seen a fall-off in business since the January opinion poll that voted against ‘taxing and regulating’ the web shop gaming industry.

“It has been the case that I have received those indications,” the attorney said. “When people said the pay outs fell, I suspected that had to do with a drop in business because of the uncertainty. They haven’t given me any percentage as to how much their business has decreased, but they all have indicated that they are experiencing some decrease in business because people are just uncertain and, while all this is going on, people are adopting a wait and see attitude.”

The Bahamian web shop industry has been thrown into limbo after the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Barnett, refused to grant operators an injunction that would prevent the Royal Bahamas Police Force from shutting down their operations or otherwise interfering with the sector.

That ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeal, and amid indications that the police are starting to investigate the web shop industry, patrons appear to be staying away for fear they may be caught up in a police raid and arrested.