The National Commission of Games of Chance (Conajzar) announced through resolution 48/2022 that, after the analysis of the documentation presented by the bidders for the concession of the exploitation of the game of chance for sports betting, the firm Daruma SAM SA will have the License for 5 more years.
It was resolved that Daruma SAM, which operates under the name of Apostala, added 100 percent of the requirements: 34 points for the fee, 33 points for its financial capacity and 33 for its background and experience.
In the resolution, Conajzar maintains that the company that won the tender “complies with all the requirements of the Bidding Terms and Conditions” and adds that the data presented is viable “both for the bidder and for the Paraguayan State”.
The other two companies that bid to keep the million-dollar business were: Play Tech by Luís Carlos Alder Benítez and Consorcio B-Gaming Paraguay Branch and Gambling SA.
Regarding the companies that did not comply with the specifications and conditions to win the tender, the entity specified point by point why they were not considered for the award. “For substantial breaches by the offeror B-Caming SA and Gambling SA, in terms of their legal, financial and experience capacity, the commission proceeds to disqualify them,” the document refers to.
In May 2023 the contract with Daruma Sam ends. The agreement with Daruma Sam is exclusive and the concession is for five years, as established by Law No. 1,016/97 of the Regime of Games of Chance.
tax ratification
The assistant prosecutor Roberto Zacarías rectified the fiscal dismissal and ordered the continuation of the investigations, having as his main argument that the company “Apostala” was created in parallel with the company DARUMA SAM SA, conspicuously constituted by Alexandre Da Rocha Leite (brother of the drug trafficker Luis Carlos Da Rocha, alias “Cabeza Branca”); Farid Yamil Georges (brother Fahd Jamil Georges, aka “The Godfather” or “King of the Border”), and Michel Youssef.
As background, on March 14, 2016, Gregorio Espinoza Herrera, Cristhian Ariel Doldán Díaz, Carlos Manuel Lugo Garcete and Carlo Giuseppe Espinoza Vega, acquired shares of the company DARUMA SAM SA – “Apostala”.
Presumably, they did not have the economic capacity to acquire the firm. It is worth mentioning that Michel Youssef and Farid Yamil Georges would have transferred the firm’s shares to those mentioned, represented by Carlos Manuel Lugo and Arnaldo Javier Gauto, according to preliminary investigations.
According to journalist Micaela Arca, who has been investigating the case, due to DARUMA SAM SA’s connections with criminal organizations, it is presumed that it was created as a front company to launder money from drug trafficking, and in order to hide the funds used for its constitution.
For this reason, the argument of the Assistant Prosecutor assumes that the shares were sold to the aforementioned as simple lenders for Alexandre Da Rocha, Farid Yamil Georges and Michael Youssef.
betting scheme
Another striking fact for the Deputy Prosecutor is that apparently winners of the sports betting prizes of DARUMA SAM SA – “Apostala” were simulated, considering that these people were repeatedly benefited and did not have the necessary economic income to justify the sums bet. , this being the mechanism that would have been used to conceal the money from criminal activities.
The company sent the reports of suspicious operations, record of winners and betting slips of Miguel Ángel López Báez, Cristhian Raúl Muñoz Duarte, Joel Alexander Benítez. As well as the record of winners and betting slips of César Arnaldo Cardozo Galeano, Alberto Vaesken Duarte, Rodrigo Cacavelos Conigliaro, Marcelo Martin Echeverria Barreto, Sadek Ali El Zein, Hugo Daniel López Ramírez, Jhonny Germán Franco Duarte, Francisco Javier Adorno Oroa, Jorge Manuel Duré, Carlos Daniel González Cabrera, Esteban René Suarez Arce, Ayrton José Manuel Céspedes Da Silva, Jorge Norberto Gamarra Larrea and Marcos Anibal Montiel Sánchez.
In addition, the Sub-Secretary of State for Taxation sent the records in said public institution that are related to the persons mentioned above as those who made bets with the highest profits.
well connected
Finally, the publication highlights that the defenders of the company DARUMA SAM SA and of Gregorio Espinoza Herrera, Cristhian Ariel Doldán Díaz, Carlos Manuel Lugo Garcete and Carlo Giuseppe Espinoza Vega, is the lawyer Ángel Santiago Martínez Seifart, son of Mónica María Seifart (this recently resigned as a member of the Judicial Council, she is also a candidate of the Executive Power to be State Attorney General), and the lawyer Álvaro Rojas Vía Llanes, son of the current minister of the Supreme Court of Justice, Dr. María Carolina Llanes Ocampos .
