Chile's Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, and the head of the legal division of the Gaming Casino Superintendency, commented on the accusation by the FNE.
Chile.- The Chilean gaming industry remains stirred after the FNE filed a requirement with the Free Competition Defense Court (TDLC) against Dreams, Enjoy, Marina del Sol and against five senior executives of these companies, accusing them of having colluded to affect the outcome of the casino bids in 2020 and 2021.
While the companies defended themselves from the accusations, other key players also expressed their stance on the investigation. Chile's Minister of Economy, Nicolás Grau, spoke with local media Radio Bío Bío about the FNE's requirement and stated that the Prosecutor's Office presented “very good evidence”.
Furthermore, he explained: “The FNE is suggesting that there was coordination among three companies to decide who would participate in the various bids. The consequence is that less revenue is collected for the State and the regional institutions that receive funds from these casinos. What one expects in a bid is that by being competitive, they have to deliver as rents to the State the maximum that was compatible with the development of their business, and what happens is that they are delivering less because they coordinated to avoid this competition mechanism. This is extremely serious. The collusion could even have criminal consequences, once the process that is now underway ends.”
On the other hand, the minister affirmed that “the penalties or sanctions being requested are the highest that have been requested in the implementation of this type of law. We are talking about USD150m. The evidence that the Prosecutor's Office has is very compelling. Here it happened that one of the three participated in compensated delation in exchange for being able to be exempt from the sanctions. It is a very efficient mechanism.” Moreover, the minister told Radio Bío Bío that these cases cause damage to the institutions.
Lastly, Grau noted: “This coordination was done fundamentally to give less rent to the municipalities, to the State in general. This is very serious, because it ends up harming all citizens. Fundamentally, they are cheating. When someone engages in such behavior it damages the institutions, and it is very relevant that the sanctions be high”.
For his part, the Head of the Legal Division of the Gaming Casino Superintendency, Manuel Zárate Campos, said that the FNE's investigation began with the complaint filed by the Superintendency after the public hearings for the presentation of technical and economic offers, held between October 2021 and January 2022, where 14 companies applied for 12 available slots starting in July 2023. In only two out of a total of 14 municipalities, there was more than one bidder.
«This situation caught the attention of the Superintendency, and was one of the reasons that motivated the filing of said complaint, in compliance with the obligation that public institutions have to report not only any act that could constitute a serious infringement against free competition, but even the crime of collusion, which ultimately must be determined both by the Free Competition Defense Court and by the courts with criminal jurisdiction, respectively», added Zárate in his statement.
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The Confederation of Production and Commerce issued the following statement last Friday, October 4:
“The requirement of the National Economic Prosecutor's Office before the Free Competition Defense Court regarding an alleged collusion of three companies to affect the result of the casino bids, accounts for a very serious fact that we strongly condemn from the Confederation of Production and Commerce”.
In their statement, the confederation added: “Attacks against free competition constitute an abuse that deeply damages public trust and faith, affects market transparency and business activity, harming the proper functioning of the economy, entrepreneurship, and investments. Like any act of corruption, collusion also undermines our democratic system”.
They continued: “From the business and trade union perspective, collusion is precisely the opposite of what we promote and foster as CPC, since free competition is at the essence of the social market economy, which allows the growth and development of countries”.
They also held that these facts must be investigated thoroughly, pursued vigorously, punished with the rigor of the law, and communicated with maximum transparency. “In Chile, there is a solid institutional framework that safeguards free competition and, as always, we respect and trust in the serious and responsible work that the relevant bodies are carrying out”, says the letter.
