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Criminal charges for collusion against casinos have been filed for the first time in Chile in the government’s case against operating giants Dreams, Enjoy and Marina del Sol.
The operators stand accused of “coordination between three companies, owners of different casinos in the county, in order to see who would go to different tenders”, said the minister of economy, Nicolás Grau.
Chile's National Economic Prosecutor's Office (FNE), which filed the complaint, has requested that their licences be revoked and for fines in the millions to be imposed.
The potential collusion in question happened in 2020 and 2021, when the casinos allegedly agreed to not stand against each other in bidding processes, instead deciding who received which tender among themselves.
"This collusion allowed the required companies to obtain the renewal of the operating permits linked to their respective gambling casinos for a period of 15 years and to present economic offers lower than those they would have made in a competitive scenario," the FNE wrote.
Carlos Baeza, a gaming lawyer who represents online operators, told Vixio that “the issue is the biggest case and evolving story in Chile, the highest fines were applied and for the first time criminal charges are going to be applied. There are lawsuits that are going to be filed against people, regarding this crime.”
Several individuals were named in the FNE’s complaint, amongst them Jaime Wilhelm, the former CEO of Dreams; Nicolás Imschenetzky, the president of Marina del Sol’s board; Henry Comber, former president of Enjoy’s board; and Claudio Fischer, the chairman of the board of Dreams. The individuals involved also face personal fines if convicted.
The FNE is asking the Court for the Defence of Free Competition (TDLC) for 171,354 annual tax units, which is around US$152m.
Dreams is being fined approximately $112m while Enjoy is being fined $37m, it is a staggering figure for both companies. Dreams reached around $57m in profits in recent years, while Enjoy has reportedly suffered losses of half a billion dollars in the last decade.
Given the magnitude of the fines, the case is expected to stretch on for years.
This is not the first time Dreams and Enjoy have faced action from the FNE.
In the spring of 2023, the announced merger of the two companies was scuppered after it failed to pass muster amongst accusations of collusion. The deal would have meant that one company owned 58 percent of the country’s land-based casinos.
