Algirdas Stončaitis assures that the commission will try to ensure that the amendments, as soon as they are registered in the Seimas, are adopted as soon as possible.
“It should be done very quickly by law – companies (gambling organizers – BNS) should be obliged to present data on identified persons and the amounts lost and bet” – A. Stončaitis told journalists on Wednesday after the commission meeting.
The commission was investigating the circumstances of the funds embezzled by Šarūnas Stepukonis from the investment company “BaltCap” infrastructure fund and related issues.
“Let (gambling market tightening – BNS) come into force even from 2025, but it would be a huge step forward”, added A. Stončaitis.
“We agreed that the commission will consider and evaluate the changes as an additional committee. The will of the members of this commission to speed up these processes is really great, believe me,” he added.
The head of the commission, among other things, reported that now one of the main versions of law enforcement is that Š. Stepukonis, suspected of embezzling tens of millions of euros, lost them.
“From the information that was provided by the participating European prosecutor, now the main version is that the money was lost, unless other versions are confirmed later. How can you lose 40 million? euros? Quite a significant part, let’s not talk about 100 thousand. EUR or 300 thousand euros, we’re talking about millions, including the ones lost in Lithuanian gambling companies. It’s hard to imagine how one gambler bets million after million and for a long period of time and that information doesn’t reach anything,” said A. Stončaitis.
According to the head of the commission, the members of the commission asked the law enforcement and other officials why the red light did not light up.
“Until you start explaining the situation, I also thought that the control authority sees that information. Unfortunately, a lot of information is not visible. Gaming companies are silent. And in order to demand, (the market supervisor – BNS) needs to know what to demand. When you don’t see the risk, when you don’t see that so much is going on from one person (bet – BNS), it’s hard to make demands”, asserted A. Stončaitis.
The Ministry of Finance has already prepared amendments to the Law on Gambling aimed at preventing irresponsible gambling. In addition, millions of fines are proposed for gambling organizers for violations.
It is suggested that gambling houses (casinos), slot machines, bingo parlors, and totalizer points have a qualified employee who, in case of suspicion of a gambler’s irresponsibility, will offer him a cooling-off break or stop gambling.
It is also proposed to oblige the companies to install a remote gambling platform, which would not only contain unified information about the gambler and his operations, but would also give the Gambling Supervisory Service the opportunity to connect to the platform at any time and check the data in real time.
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2024-03-29 13:45:26