Police check 900 gaming machines in crackdown

Some 900 gaming machines were inspected yesterday and a few were confiscated as the police kept up their crackdown on arcades throughout the island.

Among the machines confiscated were those granted a temporary licence to be tested behind closed doors.

These licences had expired and had not been renewed by the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, a Finance Ministry spokesman told The Times.

On Thursday, the police targeted all arcades in Malta - about 80 of them - but confiscated only 23 machines from San Ġwann, Floriana and Qormi as many outlets remained closed for fear of having their equipment seized.

They were shut for business yesterday but opened for the police, although the court upheld a request for a prohibitory injunction filed by eight owners stopping the authorities from confiscating their equipment.

Arcades have mushroomed around the island in the past few years, exploiting the lack of a legal framework and operating under the guise of amusement machine outlets.

Finance Minister Tonio Fenech yesterday admitted they were "mired in a swamp of loopholes" and there were problems with enforcement, highlighting the need for better regulation. New regulations establishing distances from places where young people congregate and introducing hefty licensing fees should be approved by Parliament after the summer recess.

It was Mr Fenech himself who called on the gaming authority to investigate arcades, which have long been a concern for anti-gambling entities. The authority looked into every permit, including their trading licences and those issued by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, before passing the information on to the police.

However, the police operation revolves solely on the premise that none of the outlets had a permit to operate as a gaming establishment and that the gaming machines did not have the necessary permits.

But since no legal changes have been made from when Mr Fenech highlighted the loopholes, it remains unclear what spurred the government to act now, and a spokesman for the minister would not give a clear answer when questioned.

Asked specifically what changed to allow Mr Fenech to call on the authority to investigate after having said there were problems with enforcement, the spokesman would only say: "It is true statements in that sense were expressed, however, over and above making such remarks, Mr Fenech took the initiative of asking the authority to look into the issue again, to investigate in detail the legality of these establishments and then report accordingly."

He said the government had taken this issue "very seriously" and the hurdles that were being faced did not stop Mr Fenech from asking the authority to delve deeper into the legality of these establishments.

In January, Malta's four casinos filed a judicial protest against Mr Fenech and the authority over the lack of regulation for small gaming arcades, claiming this was leading to losses due to unfair competition.

Asked whether there was any pressure from the legally licensed casinos for government to take action, the spokesman said this was not the case.