Betting licence: Here’s the proof, says Pua
By Rahmah Ghazali, Free Malaysia Today
Although the government has repeatedly denied that it has awarded a sports betting licence to a company, an opposition MP today furnished a “documented proof” that it has indeed done so.
DAP Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua provided two documents, including a “strictly private and confidential” information memorandum by Berjaya Sports Toto Malaysia Sdn Bhd, the company that was supposed to operate the betting activities.
Shedding more light on the controversy, Pua said that Ascot Sports Sdn Bhd is the company that has been given approval to run sports betting.
“Ascot Sports was sold by (tycoon) Vincent Tan and 70 percent of it is to be owned by (his company) Berjaya Corporation Bhd.
“Berjaya Corporation owns a stake in Berjaya Sports Toto, which was supposed to operate the betting. So there are three different companies,” said Pua.
According to him, Berjaya Sports Toto would not have issued the memorandum if it was not given green light by the government.
“On June 11, four days after the Finance Ministry denied issuing the licence, Berjaya Sports Toto issued the memorandum to raise up to RM800 million on medium-term notes for 10 years,” said Pua.
He said that there should be some truth in the document as the adviser was Maybank and the lead managers, AmInvestment Bank and Maybank Investment Bank.
“In this 20-page document, they (Berjaya Sports Toto) reiterated that Ascot Sports has been given approval to carry out betting operations upon certain terms and conditions…” he said.
In the document, Pua revealed that 220 Sports Toto outlets will be used as distribution points, with more outlets coming up in the future.
“The plan was to be carried out in August or early September in time for the English Premier League,” he added.
However, on June 7, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak, who is also the Finance Minister, said that the government has not issued any licence to Ascot Sports.
But on June 12, Ascot Sports issued a statement to Bursa Malaysia, saying that it has received approval. On June 15, Najib persisted that no licence has been awarded, saying that he would not be making any more statements.
