By SANCHESKA BROWN
Tribune Staff Reporter
sbrown@tribunemedia.net
Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian said yesterday he does not need the Church’s permission to run his business.
Mr Bastian, who heads the “We Care Coalition”, a group advocating the legalisation of gambling, said church leaders are entitled to their opinions but at the end of the day, it’s the opinion of the public that matters.
“I try not to respond to the church because I do respect them and their opinion, even though I do not agree with it,” he said.
“We all have a right to an opinion that does not make it right or wrong, it just makes it that - an opinion. What people fail to realise is we were being proactive with the church on the basis that if it becomes legal we would have a relationship with them but we do not need their support. I do not like how we were called ‘crime bosses’ though. I am not a crime boss. How can you compare someone who deals drugs to someone who does numbers? Drugs are illegal in every country.”
Mr Basitan’s comments came after Mario Moxey, Pastor of Bahamas Harvest Church called for the immediate arrest of all those in the “We Care Coalition” and their business shut down immediately.
“They need to be arrested and investigated. They implicated themselves in an illegal activity and the public needs an explanation as to why they have no been charged. Nothing has been done by the police, nothing has been said by the police, the Attorney General or the National Security Minister,” he said.
“According to the recent article “We Care” is “a coalition of web shop owners”.
Let’s be real, it is common knowledge that many of these “web shops” facilitate the illegal playing of “numbers”. The “We Care” group, though holding themselves out as legitimate entrepreneurs has in my humble opinion during recent news coverage, directly implicated themselves when identifying the true nature of their business: illegal gambling.
Clearly, they are seeking to legitimize their ill-gotten gains and do not care and are not genuinely concerned with the development of our Country as they claim to be. They are nothing more than an organized group of “web shop” bosses, or Organized Crime Bosses, under the umbrella of ‘We Care’, who once covertly, but now openly, engage in the illegal numbers racket.
Mr Moxey said no amount of money that these “Organized Crime Bosses” say they invest for the benefit of our people can turn their evil to good, or erase the stench of their guilt.
He said : “How pretentious are these unscrupulous Organized Crime Bosses to act as though they are interested in the betterment of our society, bragging about the money they have contributed while all along raping us of our moral virtue and perpetuating criminal activity, please!
"One cannot on the one hand commit a crime with such arrogance, blatantly showing contempt and disrespect for our laws and then on the other claim to be sincerely interested in the development of our nation and the common good of the people. They are criminals, plain and simple, and should not be applauded for attempting to bribe our society; instead, they should be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Mr Bastian said however, the group has no intention of meeting with Church leaders in the near future.
We Care is made up of representatives from Island Luck, FML Group of Companies, Island Games and Asue Draw.
Comments
spoitier 11 years, 9 months ago
Comparing the numbers man to the drug man is a good comparison, they are all illegal, and if need be they would defend their turf. The drug man have plenty of employees also and in fact some of them donate plenty of money to churches and other charities, let's take Pablo Escobar or that dude in Jamaica that nickname "Cokes" those two as well as others in the Bahamas did a lot of good in the community, but they also did a lot of bad. So Mr. Bastian may where a suit and walk with a brief case but that doesn't seperate him, because the smart drug dealers could do the same thing and a few of them does it. If the U.S didn't want ninety he would've been in Nassau probably running for a seat by now.
242 11 years, 9 months ago
Exactly, that is what Al Capone is known for
concernedcitizen 11 years, 9 months ago
mr bastian said drugs are illegal in every country ,thats not true , in,alot of countries drugs are decrimminalzed ,is booze just a legal drug and bars that sell primerally half pints just legal dope houses ??.don,t the booze industry donate big time to everything ...how many people will be shot ,juke ,rape this month cause of booze ......
TalRussell 11 years, 9 months ago
Thanks PM Christie for finally allowing these numbers man's to come out from their hiding? This way all Bahamaland can become angry at you for even considering these illegal numbers man's, as partners with Bahamaland's government.
padeco 11 years, 9 months ago
What about a lot of these dishonest and wicked Pastors hiding within the church, they are a brazen bunch.
spoitier 11 years, 9 months ago
Yeah, but the being a pastor that collects tithes and offering for his own purposes isn't illegal. There is a difference between morality and legality, so those pastors you are talking about and not all of them are wicked by the way are not breaking the law.
concernedcitizen 11 years, 9 months ago
have of em runnin behind young boys and the rest biggin up the choir ,,lol
positiveinput 11 years, 9 months ago
Gambling; is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money, material value or valuable service. Using the definition as a guide line then explain a raffle. I pay as little as a dollar with the primary intent of winning prizes that value way over a dollar. Isn't that gambling and in some instances even churches hold raffles. To obtain a U. S. visa one has to pay a fee with the uncertainty of obtaining the visa. Isn't that gambling. Gambling exists in many forms in our day to day life and in every instance is up to the individual to participate. Referring to John 2:13-16 one could comprehend that Jesus looked down on gambling (yes) but only because of the venue it was being taken place. The scriptures never state that He went searching any and everywhere for where people were doing such actions.
Arob 11 years, 9 months ago
“Island Luck CEO Sebas Bastian said yesterday he does not need the Church’s permission to run his business” Mr. Bastian, do not forget that you are running an illegal business. See Lotteries and Gaming Act.
Bahamians, how about the following scenarios
A. The Government decides to legalized gambling. Do we make the government fees (30% percentage of house wins retroactive to day the business license was issued?
B. If the Government decides to enforce the law, do we (1) close all Web Shops, (2) confiscate all equipment and furnishing, (3) confiscate all cash (note cash cannot be deposited in the banks), (4) confiscate all vehicles, buildings, property and jewelry purchased with the profit from illegal acts etc. (Web shop operators and their direct family members), (5) Auction confiscated property and deposit funds into the treasury.
spoitier 11 years, 9 months ago
There is some rights that any government needs to restrict or make illegal, if people can talk about the pros of gambling then what stop the drug dealers from talking about the pros of drugs or the prostitutes from talking about the pros from prostitution, because who could agrue that this could bring down the stats of rape, while employing many young ladies. Before someone says the CONS of prostitution or drugs, gambling also have a lot of CONS including addiction just like drugs and robbery as well as others, so I say that every government needs to keep lays to help protect citizens from themselves.
positiveinput 11 years, 9 months ago
...help protect citizens from themselves. Lol show me which human liver can consume a 40 oz of any rum with no ill affect, yet you could purchase bottle after bottle with no restrictions. Gambling should be treated like a liquor store; once your over age, let you conscience be your guide. All of the negaive effects of gambling could be obtained from just a $13 bottle of Anejo, yet liquor store after liquor store are popping up, night club after nights club, beer fest after beer fest. Whatever is practice without the presence of moderation has a negative affect. In fact if the government needs to keep lays to help protect citizens from themselves, then lets not just stop at gambling, lets include banning vehicles (speeding kills), lets close down all the bars and liquor stores, banks main cons is robbery, close them too, in fact protect us from everything and close the whole country down. The owner of John S. George is about to close his doors with that establishment. He should stand right next to the number house operators because he too used his business as a gambling house, and using casino terms, the house lost.
The main problem with Bahamians is that if "I'm not doing it, then nobody else should." This could be notice as simply as when your neighbour have a party this week, then the following week you try do likewise. See how quick that same neighbour whose party went on until the wee-hours of the morning calls the police complaining of disburbance. Just like in the bible days, Noah's Ark, acknowledge people of what is expected of them and let them choose their own faith.
spoitier 11 years, 9 months ago
Positiveinput if you read my post you wouldn't only reflect on gambling you would've reflected on prostitution and drugs, with your points then you might as well legalize those two also, because on the surface it is just people doing what they want to do with their things, but under the surface a lot of other innocent people will suffer and that is the reason why Bahamians are not allow to gamble in the first place. If you are going to legalize it then make a state run lottery system that will probably cut out the numbers house and then watch them complain because they are looking out for their own pockets. I don't live home and yes I play a little powerball hear and there but I've learn the hard way from the freedom of being able to gamble by loosing a lot of money in vegas and other places and most Bahamians doesn't have that discipline. I wouldn't allow Bahamians to gamble in the casino unless it is once a month like in Aruba like another person stated. Because most of us never gamble in the casinos before we would have trouble knowing when to stop, we wouldn't know how to react to people who is sitting at the table with you and making dumb plays( which is that person's rights). Some of the things that goes on in a casino like someone pointing it out to the dealer that you bust, when the dealer didn't realise it, or someone splitting two tens with minimum a bet while you have considerably more money bet on your hand than them will send most Bahamians over the edge.
Just_some_Perspective 11 years, 9 months ago
I'm sorry but in this country where people have PLAYED NUMBERS FOR YEARS there will not be an increased risk of additional robbery or addiction. As it currently stands the law which is in place serves no purpose. I would ask you which person do you know in this country refuses to play numbers on the basis of the fact that its "illegal" and would play if it were legal. The answer would be nobody. Additionally the legalizing of drugs and prostitution has been done in Holland and they have one of the lowest crime rates in the world. I however am not saying to legalize drugs or prostitution because they both lead to possibly life threatening health risk. All I would say is to ask yourself and this goes out to the entire Bahamian population, Why was gambling made illegal for Bahamians within their own country? The answer was simple; the government felt that we the people were not responsible enough to make our own decisions. I would go further to ask each of you individuals who continually argue against gambling. Do you believe that you yourself is responsible enough to manage your own finances when gambling is made legal? I'm not asking for an argument I'm just asking for you to think about it...As I have observed there are no 1st world country who does not already have national lottery in place which subsidies government programs such as education, defense, or health. Case an point would be these 6 countries we are all familiar with; USA, LONDON, CANADA, BARBADOS, CHINA, BRAZIL. Look it up, Do your research, and make an intelligent informed decision
Mayaguana34 11 years, 9 months ago
Somebody better shut this idiot up before some decides to enforce the laws of The Bahamas - Maybe even go as far as to look into the legislation related to the proceeds of crime!! #sebASS
Jill 11 years, 9 months ago
The church people need to shut up n try to get rid of the criminals in their church who are in their congregation pretending to be christians n are the most evil people on earth. People should be allowed to gamble if they wish. Go after the murderers, the rapist, the robbers and other criminals and leave the people who wish to gamble with their hard earn money. I don't hear the church making noise over the bars that are on every streets. I gamble n that is my choice but I don't drink alcohol, I don't do drugs and my bills are paid. I also don't pretend to be a christian and I'm a law abiding citizen.
spoitier 11 years, 9 months ago
If a person do drugs that should be there business also or if they sell their body, the point is there have to be some moral standards in a country, even if gambling is allowed there have to be some restrictions because once you legalize it you cant go back and make it illegal, and I'm telling you from experience it isn't a good thing. Bahamians going on about this gambling thing about buying numbers and all of that, why not pressure the government to make it legal for you guys to buy stocks in BPC, I don't live in the Bahamas and I made a comment about Bahamians complaining about drilling for oil, why not just buy some stocks, and someone responded about Bahamians not being allowed to buy in. This is the kind of things that will set the average Bahamians free, numbers is only going to set Mr. Bastian and those politicians who he brought free.
BaystreetTrader 11 years, 9 months ago
Playing numbers is a losing proposition. Given the mass amounts of wealth that Number Houses are accumulating, its a clear indication that the society is not properly educated and does not understand probabilities. Unlike individuals that play poker and blackjack that consistently make money due to an edge they have, playing numbers gives the number houses the edge.
Whenever gambling is legalize, hopefully I can team up with some individuals to open up a legal Number house. Because the money is made running this business, not playing it!
concernedcitizen 11 years, 9 months ago
i have been around gambling all my life ,your are right poker and blackjack require some skill .we however have turned God in to our personal handicapper ,thru dreams etc etc ,,,its a riot ,the numbers man should be broke ,,lmao ..with 3 numbers it is called a 6o/40 spilt ,that means even if your lucky you will spend 6 dollars to make 4 ,or 600 to make 400 or over a lifetime 60,000 to make 40,000 .i sure wouldn,,t invest my money with anyone that provided that type of return ..but i say legalize it ,you can not protect people from themselves ,it really is survival of the fitest ,,,,how many wealthy people play numbers lol
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