Just after few moments that the Canadian born business man Calvin Ayre was released from all accusations of illegal gambling from 2012, Antigua and Barbuda was quick to congratulate Mr. Ayre about this achievement while hitting back to the US for not settling down a court ordered with the country.
In 2012 Mr. Ayre was accused from the District of Maryland US Attorney of violating the law when he provided online gambling services through his igaming company Bodog, of which he found himself.
However, during a court hearing later last month, Chief Judge Catherine Blake from Maryland District Court has dropped all charges towards Mr. Ayre. The man himself was required to pay a fine of $500,000 in addition to a $100,000 to reacquire Bodog back.
Mr. Ayre has been living in Antigua and Barbuda since 2007 and he has established him self as one of the biggest investors in the country. No wonder why the government of Antigua and Barbuda is issuing the statement about welcoming the courts decision towards Mr. Ayre.
On the other hand, even Antigua and Barbuda had their own mishaps with the US authorities. It all started back in the 2000's where the US initiated a major crackdown on online gambling by enforcing a global ban on internet gambling of which eventually in 2006 turned into a regulation with the name of Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act 2006. Prior to this, Antigua and Barbuda was the "capital" of online gambling with investors flocking in to operate their online gambling service.
This new regulation affected drastically the online gambling industry for Antigua and Barbuda, some say to a terrible extend.
It was by then that the same jurisdiction sought help from the WTO (World Trade Organization). The same WTO found that this new US regulation was obstructing Antigua and Barbuda from operating a regulated online gaming infrastructure and thus violating the 1995 treaty that scraped international trade barriers.
In spite of all this, the US was ordered to pay Antigua and Barbuda the sum of $21 Million in damages per annum. The US have never paid anything to the latter even till today, with the new debt rising up to $250 Million as of today.
During these past 15 years, Antigua and Barbuda had tried multiple time to settle this matter on many occasions, however, the US always refused to settle anything. Therefore, once again, Antigua and Barbuda are now re-taking this matter in front of the WTO.
