Golden Palace Pays
Without even taking the case to court, owners of Golden Palace Casino agreed to
pay a $2 million fine for illegally engaging in internet gambling activities.
The Canadian government is apparently beginning to cut down on the online
casinos that are licensed by and operating from the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve,
even though tribe contends that it is still entirely within the tribal rights
for the Kahnawake tribe to administer and license online casino sites.
The Cyber World Group administers the online casino site, Golden Palace.com, and
rather than fight the charges and draw out the dispute, the internet gambling
company pleaded guilty to the charges and was then fined $2 million. Golden
Palace is easily one of the top online casinos in the global internet gambling
community, and many smaller internet gambling companies that are also registered
through the Kahnawake reserve are concerned that the government might pursue
some of the smaller sites next.
More than likely, the online casino company decided to just settle on a guilty
plea as a way to end the avoid drawing out the issue any more than is necessary.
Golden Palace operated out of offices in Montreal last year, and the
government’s investigation into the site led to a raid on Golden Palace’s
offices.
The crux of the issue really lies in whether or not the Kahnawake reserve is
able to license online casinos, or if the sites have to go through the
provincial government as is outlined in the Canadian Criminal Code. Choosing not
to go to trial may have been a cost effective, or face saving measure for the
online casino, but in the long run, the online casino site has just prolonged
the real issue between the tribe and the government which might just stay as is
until the issue makes it to court.
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