NLA Vindicates StarBet Over Illegal Operations

The National Lottery Authority (NLA) has vindicated StarBet, a new sports betting company in Liberia over allegation that the company fraudulently and illegally entered the Liberia’s lottery sector.
Speaking to this paper on the telephone NLA official spokesperson Preston Gayflor said the company has gone through all of the legal formalities and has been cleared and licensed by NLA to operate as a legal and legitimate sports betting company in Liberia as required by law.
The legality and legitimacy of the company was brought to the spotlight last week when this paper carried a story in its Vol.29 No. 36 edition title: “Betting Company Operating Illegally”?
A part of the story read: there are claims that a sport betting company StarBet, is said to be operating illegally in the country and is also involved in cheating its customers, something that is said to be contrary to business.
“Many pundits are wondering why the NLA that has the power and authority to regulate the gaming sector would revoke an entity’s license and the company continues to operate in blatant disregard for the NLA and nothing is done.
But contrary to these allegations, the NLA spokesperson Gayflor has clarified that StarBet has met all necessary requirements for obtaining a sports betting license according to the gaming regulations and is free to operate without fear and intimidation.
Also, the Management of StarBet through its Operations Manager Mr. Isaac V. Williams has earlier denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the allegations and insinuations as false, baseless and laughable.
“If we have not gone through all of the legal processes as they are claiming, then why are we operating? We are on Broad Street where everyone can see us clearly; so why has the Lottery Authority not stop us”? Mr. Williams asked with confidence.
He added that the company has gone through the legal process and has received the proper documents from every government agency that is responsible for establishing a business in Liberia and they have done so in the confine of the law.
“We are transparent with our business and the taxes we pay to government; that is why we made our taxes very clear to our customers that for every bet there will be 20 percent tax to the government of Liberia and we are the only company doing that for transparency,” he clarified.
Regarding the reported chaotic incident as a result of the company cheating its customers, Mr. Williams said at no time has any customers complained of being cheated because we are transparent and fair.”
He also regards such allegation as a scare tactics that may be coming from some of their competitors who are feeling threatened about the presence of StarBet in the lottery sector and are trying to malign the company’s reputation by providing misleading and false information to the public.
The young manager stressed that the company is not deterred by such information but will rather continue to provide the best services for its customers and abide by all government regulations.