Poker news from http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/
There is a motto in public relations which states that any publicity, even if it is bad, is good publicity. However, somebody at the Casino di Venezia in Birgu might beg to differ given the delicate and controversial situation the months-old casino has found itself in.
Somebody, somewhere is lying. On the one hand we have the chairman of the company that operates the Birgu waterfront casino alleging that the gaming palace was defrauded of thousands of pounds by an unidentified Italian national. The allegation maintains that an offer to purchase the casino was supposedly made by a lawyer representing the Sicilian mafia.
And on the other hand we have the Sicilian lawyer saying that he represented a businessman from Milan who was enquiring about rumours that the casino was up for sale soon after it had started operating.
In the midst of all this malaise, Italian news reports informed us that investigators from Venice were in Malta to talk to the casino’s management and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg said in Parliament that no reports were lodged with the Malta Police. It also transpires that the casino’s Venetian management has come over to Malta to scrutinise the Birgu casino operations.
If the mafia link proves to be true then Malta must definitely keep its eyes and ears peeled. Crime knows no borders and Malta’s proximity to Sicily could make it an adequate backwater playground for mafia turncoats. And we have enough shady characters of our own who would be glad to flirt with Sicily’s Toto Riinas and Michele Grecos.
Malta’s three casinos, particularly the Casino di Venezia, have already attracted an influx of Sicilian gamers, who have no casino to call home. Sicily, despite being larger and more populous than Malta, has no casinos, and the short distance between the two islands makes it convenient for Sicilian punters to cross over. This is a positive development because it has created a niche tourist market, which can only but benefit the national airline and the local tourist industry.
The Birgu casino has even been labelled the ‘Casino delle Due Sicilie’, recalling the historic link, when Malta and the southern part of Italy were governed by the Sicilian Kingdom. But just like anything else in life, the good is always accompanied by the bad. Such a scenario makes it highly likely that the Sicilian mafia could try to get a foothold in Malta’s gaming industry. It would be a lucrative deal indeed.
And the mafia’s dirty poker game will be played irrespective of Malta’s relations with the European Union. Admittedly, membership in the EU would make it easier for Sicilians to cross over but it would not make it any easier or more difficult than it is at present for turncoats to operate. Criminals will transcend borders whether they are open or not. It is only constant vigilance and cross-border co-operation that can counter the mafia infiltration. This is where the Security Service must play an important role.
However, if the mafia story is all an invention to mask failure, fingers should be pointed, and heads must roll. The Sicilian lawyer who was alleged to be representing the mafia has vehemently denied any links to shady organisations. He is insisting that the Casino di Venezia was up for sale soon after it commenced operations in August last year.
Although no transfer of ownership whether in part or in whole, can be conducted unless the Maltese Gaming Board is informed, if the Casino di Venezia truly had the intention of selling, it would have been a sad start to the much vaunted Cottonera project.
The casino’s top management have reassured everybody that the casino is not for sale and if this is the case a thorough investigation must be launched to establish whether the rumour was initiated by some internal mole with ulterior motives.
The stakes in this poker game are high for our tiny island, which has been transforming its economic base into a service industry. At this stage it is difficult to discern between a winning hand and bluff. But as the story unfolds somebody, somewhere will call the opponent’s bluff and when the cards are all on the table, hopefully the truth will emerge.
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