SANTO DOMINGO.- The gambling continues gaining a foothold in the country, and in addition to betting parlors, casinos have taken the longest stride, going from around 20 at the beginning of 2005, to 56 today.

But their spread has also revealed their illegality, as more than one operates without Law 351’s permits and requirements for this type of business, and as a result several of their licenses have been cancelled.

There’s also concern that these businesses are easy front for the laundering of large amounts of money from drug trafficking.

At least two casinos now under construction in the city of Santo Domingo lack the license and two others operate without adhering to established requirements, including the one on the San Isidro highway, formerly the restaurant Blue House, for which the Hacienda Ministry’s Casinos Department has yet to issue a license.

The same occurs with the casino being built in the facilities of the former theater Agua y Luz, whose promoters, the Group Dawn Properties Ltd, haven’t been able to recover the license revoked in 2005.

According to article 1 of Law 351, the Executive Branch issues licenses for "establishments of playing rooms in hotels of first category and other places of first category," of a tourist nature, whereas article 2 stipulates that location, installation and invested capital for game rooms is taken into account, and the Casinos Commission, created for such purposes, verifies that these can be classified as  first category and gather the accepted international characteristics for tourism development.

Casinos director Conrado Abud told newspaper Dario Libre that in the case of the casino in San Isidro, they await the conclusion of the construction of a hotel as part of the facility, before issuing the license.

However, the Princesa Internacional, located on 27 de Febrero avenue and open to the public since December, has the operating license, without any signs of a hotel to date.

Abud said the Princesa was given a six month notice, four of which have already passed for it to build the hotel or otherwise their permit could be revoked.

Game Rooms  

Another one whose license was revoked was the casino San Jerónimo, and the Justice Ministry shuttered the hotel after its owner, a Canadian national, was repatriated to his country to face drug trafficking and money laundering charges. However it remains operating as a “game room,” Abud admits.

At present casino owners must pay RD$10 million for an operating license, according to an Hacienda Ministry resolution of August 12, 2008.