GMB - How was the idea of risking the opening of gambling houses born in a country that has not yet legalized the activity?
Marcelo Bruno Moraes Nascimento - Numerical draws, within the main venue, sub-venue and accredited agency of Jockey Club, has been permitted by the Law since 1984, according to article 14 of Law 7,291 / 84, article 17 of Decree 96,993 / 88, article 26, Article 56, II, Law No. 9.615 / 98, Articles 195, III and 217 of the Constitution of the Republic.
Thus, from the point of view of criminal law, the activity carried out does not fall within the sanctions of article 50 of the Law on Criminal Offenses (exploitation of games of chance - which, even in this state of RGS, is considered an atypical fact), but yes, in the exception provided for in article 51, paragraph 3, of the Criminal Offenses Act, which states that lotteries when authorized by special legislation are not considered criminal contravention. See the article:
Art. 51. Promote or extract lottery, without legal authorization:
Paragraph 3. The definition of the previous paragraph does not include the draws authorized in the special legislation.
The legislation is clear: draws authorized in the special legislation, which is the case of draws of numbers provided in the Turf Law, special legislation, are not considered contravention penal. This means they are lawful and are classified as business activity when exercised by accredited Jockey Club agencies.
Paragraph 3 of article 51 removes from the illegality draws made by Caixa Econômica Federal (Megasena, Quina, Loto etc), capitalization companies (Telesena, Trilegal, Minascap etc) and Jockeys Club (numerical draws held within main venue and accredited agency). Based on this special legislation, which is in the exception of article 50 of the Decree-Law on Criminal Offenses, the proprietary group of the KENOPLAY brand decided to invest in Brazil.
Who owns these ventures?
When the Jockey himself explores the lottery of numbers, it is the turf entity itself. When it is the accredited agency to explore the draws, it will be the owner of the legal entity, individual or limited firm, accredited by the Jockey Club to collect the bets provided for in article 14 of the Turf Law. The KENOPLAY houses are from JOCKEY CLUB CARAZINHENSE, managed by the company COMTECH ORGANIZATION AND ADMINISTRATION OF EVENTS LTDA, which has been contracted with the Jockey Club Carazinhense for many years.
Are not you afraid that what happened to Winfil will happen to you? Lawyers also believed the law protected them, but the police stopped bettings in an operation.
Fearing something has become a national concern since the coup of 2016. But Winfil had an injunction that was shamelessly disrespected, and the Jockey Club Carazinhense has a final and unappealable judicial decision (8x0) of the State Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul, which is something much stronger. In addition, in the process there is a favorable opinion from the Public Prosecutor's Office, as well as a petition from the State giving up appeals to higher courts. As if that were not enough, we called on the Honorable Secretary of Security and he replied that he usually respected judicial decisions and that the civil and military police refrained from conducting searches and seizures at the accredited offices and agencies of the Jockey.
Is there a plan to expand the business and open more gaming venues in the short term?
Yes, JOCKEY's plan is to have, until February 2018, ten houses in operation of KENOPLAY in the State of RGS. Subsequently, the plan is to open in other states of Brazil.
How many people should they employ in this first opening step?
In this first stage, in the three houses KENOPLAY in Rio Grande do Sul, there are some 200 people with direct employment, beside the indirect ones.
What is the value of the minimum bets and what are the operating hours of the Keno Play houses?
The minimum value of the card is R$ 2.00 (US$ 0,60) . The KENOPLAY houses are open from 10am to 2am.
Did the owners talk to the state authorities before opening the gaming sites?
Yes, we seek the authorities by providing certified copies of the final court decision, the judicial interpellation and response of the Secretary of Security, as well as the legislation that exempts the activity as a criminal contravention.
What exactly is Keno Play and what differentiate it from a bingo?
In KENOPLAY, numbers are drawn randomly from numbers 1 to 90, at horse race meetings, within the sub-venue and accredited Jockey Club agencies. While Law 7.291 / 84 is in force, as well as sparse legislation on turf, the Jockey can make lottery numbers. Card bingo, technically, is a numerical draw, so any Jockey Club in the country, can explore random numerical draws from numbers 1 to 90. All of them have nicknamed this random lottery numbers 01 to 90 of "Bingo", but we could call anything (table, chair, glass, cup, keno etc).
Technically, article 2 of Decree-Law no. 3.659, of November 14, 2000, classifies as a bingo activity the one in which random draws of numbers 1 to 90 are made, through a bingo bawler (Bingueira), in verbis:
Art. 2o Bingo game is one in which random numbers are randomly drawn from 1 to 90, by means of successive extractions, until one or more competitors reach the previously determined objective, being able to be realized in the modalities of permanent bingo and eventual bingo.
What is your audience expectation?
The expectation is full house because, just like the draws of Caixa Econômica Federal and capitalization companies (Telesena, Trilegal etc), it is the only legal game predicted in the Brazilian legal system, bringing security for bettors.
What is your opinion about the legalization processes in the country? If the law, in finally aproved, would you consider to add, for example, slot machines?
In my opinion, the legalization of other betting games will take place in a few months. It is time to legalize, because we are one of the few countries in the world still in hiding. In the literal sense of the Law, the Jockey could already explore machines, as it can explore contests of prognoses according to the mentioned legislation. However, by decision of the board of directors, KENOPLAY will only act with random numerical draws from numbers 1 to 90, at its subs-venues and agencies accredited by the Country.
What is the value of the investment made to open the houses and to future one for new projected venues?
I do not have this information, as I am only a lawyer for KENOPLAY. The houses have an aesthetic standard to be observed, as well as integrated software that links several sub-venues or accredited agencies. The value of the investment depends very much on the size of the municipality in which the accredited agency will be opened, capacity of public (seated people), architecture and decoration of the rooms. It is required by law an agreement of accreditation with the Jockey Club, which expressly provides for the prohibition of any illegal game inside the gaming houses, as the only permitted is the random numerical draw of numbers 1 to 90.
Source: GMB Exclusive
