Antiguan government officials reacted angrily to news that the US Department of Justice has indicted William Scott and Jessica Davis on money laundering charges related to their operation of World Wide Telesports, an Antigua based and licensed gaming service.
The allegations hinge on purported violations by the two of United States legislation known as the “Wire Act” and the “Travel Act,” the application of both of which to gaming operators from Antigua was found last year by the World Trade Organization to be contrary to the American obligations under WTO law.
“These indictments, coming down at a time when the United States is supposed to be undertaking efforts to comply with the rulings of the WTO, are surely no coincidence. It is more than just a little ironic that the United States Department of Justice has chosen to single out for prosecution a well-known gaming service provider from Antigua, a jurisdiction that has been leading global efforts to license, regulate, supervise and oversee a robust yet clean and safe gaming industry over the Internet–and the only jurisdiction to take on the United States at the World Trade Organisation–and win–on this exact issue,” said Dr John W. Ashe, Antigua’s Ambassador to the WTO.
The United States had until 3 April 2006 to comply with the rulings of the WTO in the gambling case. Having initially stated that coming into compliance would involve significant legislative efforts, the United States made a surprise announcement at the WTO meeting last month that it was already in compliance with the adverse ruling, despite having taken no apparent corrective action at all. The parties are in the early stages of a process at the WTO whereby a panel will review the current situation and assess the status of United States compliance.
“We are looking forward to this review process and we feel very confident that once again the WTO will agree with us that the United States’ position on Internet gaming from our country is simply trade discrimination–disguised restrictions on trade in services in violation of the WTO agreements. In the year since we won our case, facts have only gotten better for Antigua and worse for the United States,” said Dr Ashe.
In separate news, Kaye McDonald, Director of Gaming with the Financial Services Regulatory Commission, told the Antigua Sun that the US Department of Justice is simply mounting efforts to hinder Antigua & Barbuda’s gaming sector by targeting and stifling local gaming companies. She said this action is particularly troubling, since it comes at a time when the two countries should be working together for a fair and amicable resolution to the WTO dispute.
McDonald also explained that the US charges for money laundering have no application in Antigua, where internet gaming is legal.
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