Antigua Can’t Catch a Break
 
July 1, 2009

Antigua and Barbuda has been known for their battles when it comes to online gambling. When the whole fiasco known as the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, or UIGEA, came to play, they were definitely on the losing end of the stick, as they are a country that gets the majority of their revenue from online gambling. Considering that the majority of people who participate in online gambling live in the US – it is a considerable loss for them.
 
They then had to fight for a settlement from the US for that loss of income, and even though they won they have yet to see a dime. But now, they have another kind of problem – they have been fighting the US over illegal activity while they may have been having their own kind of illegal online gambling activity in their own backyard.
 
Their Director of Financial Services Regulatory Commission has been suspended for alleged illegal activity. He has a relationship with Allen Stanford, who is a well known financier. However, Stanford supposedly has some shady business dealings that Leroy King may have been involved in. If this is true, it could seriously damage the credibility of the country’s online gambling industry.
 
Attorney General Justin Simon is investigating the scandal and is worried about how much damage this will actually do to the online gambling industry. This could damage them beyond any hope of returning. Now in addition to having to worry about their country’s economy from the US perspective they have to worry about their internal problems as well. Experts say that many online gambling operators will no longer feel that this is a safe place to park their sites and therefore will not come to the country anymore.

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