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Brexit deal delayed by election SPAIN'S foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares has ruled out closing a post-Brexit deal over Gibraltar until after the UK general election on July 4. The minister made his position clear after being asked about the status of negotiations to achieve an accord between the UK, Spain, and the European Union. “As soon as the new government is at the helm of the United Kingdom, I will meet with my new colleague to give the final push and get that agreement,” he said at a news conference. It was the first time that he said it was not feasible to close an agreement before July 4. He met with the British foreign secretary Lord David Cameron a fortnight ago for an informal chat at a NATO foreign ministers meeting in Prague. Albares did emphasise last week that ‘technical negotiations’ were continuing. Nevertheless, it appears highly likely that he'll be dealing with Labour’s David Lammy from July unless the UK opinion polls have misjudged the general election result. Albares said the ‘political framework’ of a deal had been ‘more or less finalised’ after the last meeting held in Brussels on May 16 with David Cameron, European Commission vice-president, Maros Sefcovic, and Gibraltar's Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo. He repeated that just ‘technical work’ was required, which suggests that a change in UK government should not bring any major delays if that happens - as expected - in early July.
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Vol. 8 Issue 225
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June 12th - June 25th 2024
PRIDE ROCK GIBRALTAR will mark LGBTQIA+ Pride Month by raising the pride flag and holding events. June 1 marked the start of the celebrations, with flags raised at the border, No.6 Convent Place, St. Bernard’s Hospital, the Care Agency and New Mole House. On Monday, June 10 The Ministry of Equality held a panel discussion event entitled: ‘Pride: Relevance and Reality.’ The event was hailed a ‘resounding success’, with ‘inspiring’ and ‘moving’ talks from local members of the LGTBQ+ community. Gibraltar LGBTQ+ Committee will host the Rock’s annual pride celebrations on June 22. RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Ella Vaday will be headlining the event, due to take place in Casemates Square from 10am to 11pm. Minister for Equality, the Hon Christian Santos, said: “Every citizen of Gibraltar deserves and is entitled to feel safe, included and accepted.”
PROUD: Pride month begins in Gibraltar
House of cards
EXCLUSIVE: Explosive allegations against gaming firm Mansion shake Gibraltar and raise questions about business links with former finance minister A GIBRALTAR gaming firm whose name was emblazoned on various Premier League shirts has been accused of operating illegal online gambling in over a dozen countries. The accusations have emerged during an ongoing secret legal battle in the Gibraltar Supreme Court, the Olive Press can reveal. The sensational multi-million pound case is being brought by the remnants of the Mansion Group against their former CEO, Karel Manasco, 43. Manasco has accused the now-defunct gaming giant of engaging in a scandalous practice known as ‘grey area gaming’. This involves illegally trading in various countries and led to the alleged defrauding of various governments including Austria and Germany. Manasco alleges the activity ‘constitutes the true and undisclosed profits’ of the Mansion Group in Europe, something it denies. The alarming list of alleged unlawful acts includes operating without appropriate licences, circumventing regulations, dodging taxes, and online gambling in countries where it is illegal. As well as its core market in the UK, the allegations cover activities in many countries including France, South Africa and Spain. Untraceable covert companies were allegedly set up in Curacao in 2011 - some through the infamous law firm Mossack Fonseca, made notorious by the Panama Papers scandal. One company, Casino Midas, ‘was set up’ by Mansion in 2011 to operate in France after the country decided to outlaw offshore online casinos. The regulatory noose started to tighten further as other countries followed suit, tightening laws. Casino Midas was hurriedly shut
OLIVE PRESS
By Walter Finch
down in 2015 after French regulators blacklisted the company and threatened to investigate it. In an email to the Olive Press, a spokesperson representing Mansion firmly denied the allegations and labelled them ‘unsubstantiated’. The allegations arose as Gibraltarian Manasco was publicly accused of taking huge bonuses while splashing company money on luxury cars and high value watches. Mansion eventually won a worldwide freezing order (WFO) against Manasco to the tune of €5 million in 2023. He insisted the claims are ‘total lies’ with Mansion simply trying to ‘destroy’ him after he began to blow the whistle on its business practices.
Connections
The Olive Press can also reveal that during the period of alleged wrongdoing, from 2011 to 2021, Mansion had links to Gibraltar’s then-Finance and Gaming Minister Albert Isola CBE. His family law firm Isolas represented Mansion in its legal matters in Gibraltar and even rented the gambling giant office space in Isolas’ Europort building. The controversial building came under scrutiny after an Isola family trust bought it from Rifaat al-Assad, the sanctioned uncle of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, for a knockdown price, in 2018. A sister company, Fiduciary, helped Mansion with trust management services behind the scenes. In an email to the Olive Press, Fiduciary executive Joey Imossi insisted he
GAMBLERS: Andrew Lyman (left), Karel Manasco and Albert Isola (right) was unable to speak about the case. “With respect to Mr Manasco and the case in general we refer you to the various published judgments of the Supreme Court.” He denied any conflict had arisen through Albert Isola’s role as a senior partner at the firm and also as Minister of Finance and Gaming as he was ‘on sabbatical at the time’. He further clarified: “Fiduciary provides secretarial management services to Mansion at arm’s length in the usual manner as a corporate services provider.”
Lack of action
Manasco’s allegations against Mansion have yet to be officially investigated by the Gibraltar Gambling Commission. When they were flagged to Commissioner Andrew Lyman in July 2023, he wrote to Manasco’s lawyer stating
that ‘the bare assertions are insufficient to immediately trigger an investigation.’ The lack of action has frustrated some observers, especially in light of proactive measures taken in other jurisdictions, such as the UK and France. The case may raise further questions around the regulation of Gibraltar’s mammoth online gaming sector, which according to the government accounts for 28% of its GDP. “The Government and the Gambling Commissioner are aware of certain allegations made by Mr Manasco in the context of a case brought by Mansion against Mr Manasco as respondent,” a spokesman told the Olive Press. “There are ongoing civil proceedings, as such it would be inappropriate to make any comment.” However, Imossi separately conContinues on page 4
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