Head Of Chile’s Gaming Control Board Resigns Due To Controversy

The head of the Chile’s Gaming Control Board (SCJ) Renato Hamel has resigned according to local media reports. The reports attribute it to the ongoing controversy surrounding the issuance of a gambling licence for a new casino in the region of Chillan. Chilean media reports suggest that the resignation is believed to be at the behest of Chile’s President Michelle Bachelet.

The resignation has come at a time when the Gaming Control Board has been asked by the Court of Appeals of Concepción to give its opinion on issuance of the license. The court has given the board five days to respond to its list of questions.

Mr. Hamel was the head of the SCJ for over three years and was appointed by the administration of Sebastián Piñera. Now that he has resigned, Daniel García Fernández, who was the ex Director of Management Services of the Ministry of Finance, will now serve as the interim head.

The tender process for a casino to be built in the capital of the province of Ñuble in the Chilean region of Bío Bío, has been mired in controversy since its beginning. The project has been in the pipeline for the last two years and has been delayed due to conflicts that rise over the proposal of the Boldt-Peralada group, which is an Argentine-Spanish joint venture. The local council, Regional Council of Bio Bio has rejected their proposal three times in favour of the proposal by Chilean-Canadian operator Marina del Sol.

The conflict intensified after the proposal was put to vote and rejected for the third time in November 2015. The third round of voting became necessitated after the lawyer for Boldt-Peralada group Ricardo Abdala successfully argued against the previous vote stating that the gaming commission had overstepped its authority by voting the proposal out as it was not eligible under Chile’s gaming laws to decide on technical matters, resulting in its invalidation.

The council had awarded zero points to the Argentine-Spanish proposal and 300 points to the proposal by the Chilean-Canadian operator. After the proposal was rejected for the third time, Abdala had stated that the Boldt-Peralada group might contest the vote again, reiterating that the council was not acting in an impartial manner. The court has interceded asking for board’s opinion in light of these plans to file again.

The SCJ had faced a series of uncomfortable questions last year after local media reports claimed that it had failed to file a report with the necessary authorities that would have resulted in the disbarment of Marina del Sol from the process. The claim was refuted and termed as totally false by a spokesman of the board.

Adrian Sterne

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