Liberia: Starbet demands release of containers held by the National Lottery Authority

Monrovia – The management of Starbet, a new sports betting company in Liberia is demanding the immediate release of its terminals ceased by the National Lottery Authority (NLA).

The management, in a communication to the NLA’s acting Director General, Neved Kortu complained that on July 18, a group of NLA agents, acting on Kortu’s instruction, unlawfully seized 10 terminals from various agents working for Starbet based on false representation and allegations of unspecified violations under the NLA ACT and Gaming Regulation 001 of 2016.

Prior to the seizure, the management complained that the company was not served any written notice informing it of any violations, adding that other competitors whose agents are located next to their agents were allowed to continue their operations without any service disruption as was done to their agents.

The Starbet management said the NLA’s action was in violation of the Act establishing the NLA and warned the authority will be held responsible for any loss the entity will incurred.

“We strongly view this act from your office and your agents in the service of this business as another attempt to impede our smooth business operations and prevent it from deploying terminals and agents throughout Montserrado County and its environs as well as from providing better service to the Liberian people after many years of monopoly,”

– the Starbet management wrote in the letter of complaint sent to the NLA’s Director General.

“In view of the above, we are kindly requesting the immediate release of our terminals so that we can continue providing services to our customers without further interruptions. We also reserve rights to hold those responsible for any direct or indirect loss of business.”

It can be recalled in March, NLA vindicated StarBet over allegation that the company fraudulently and illegally entered the Liberia’s lottery sector.

The Inquirer Newspaper in March quoted NLA’s Spokesperson Preston Gayflor as saying the company has gone through all of the legal formalities and has been cleared and licensed by NLA to operate as a legal and legitimate sports betting company in Liberia as required by law.

Source: frontpageafricaonline.com

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