News Five Investigates Caribi Bleu Casino in San Pedro Town

Tonight, we’re turning our attention back to a casino in San Pedro Town. Last week, News Five had an in-depth interview with Mayor Wally Nunez about allegations that up to two hundred golf cart permits were issued to Caribi Bleu Casino. This evening, we have video footage of the council’s Vehicle Master List, which only shows the number of vehicles registered after permits are issued. Despite this, we accepted the mayor’s invitation to document the list. As our investigation into Caribi Bleu Casino deepens, News Five now has video evidence showing the casino illegally operating an ATM that dispenses U.S. currency. News Five’s Paul Lopez has the story.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

In our last investigative report on Caribi Bleu Casino in San Pedro, we grilled Mayor Wally Nunez about claims that the casino’s owners were granted two hundred golf cart permits. Issuing that many permits to a single establishment seems outrageous, and Mayor Nunez firmly denied the allegations.

 

Wally Nunez, Mayor, San Pedro Town

“That is not a fact.”

 

Today, the San Pedro Town Council gave News Five a look at its Vehicle Master List, which shows a whopping fourteen thousand, four hundred and sixty-seven registered vehicles on the island. The mayor’s aide mentioned that the list needs updating since some entries are inactive. We then searched for any vehicles registered to Caribi Bleu Casino, and sure enough, we found results under Caribi Bleu Limited. It turns out they have twenty golf carts registered and insured as of May twenty-eighth, 2024.

 

Wally Nunez

“The company applied for the renewal of some permits they had, which was twenty golfcarts. That was approved even while Monetas was there, which was twenty golfcarts for the resort.”

 

It’s important to note that the Vehicle Master List only shows how many vehicles are registered under a person or company, not how many permits were issued to them. Despite our visit to the San Pedro Town Council’s Traffic Department, our recent trip to Caribi Bleu Casino left us with more questions than answers. We discovered that numerous golf carts were being stored in a neighboring building the casino is developing. Video footage from early October shows golf carts neatly parked on the cramped first floor. However, today that same floor was almost empty, except for a few old gaming machines. A spokesperson for Caribi Bleu Casino claimed that no golf carts were parked inside the building, but our initial video tells a different story.

 

What’s even more suspicious is that there’s an ATM inside the casino dispensing U.S. currency. According to the Exchange Control Regulations Act, you need authorization from the Central Bank to deal in foreign currency. In a covert operation, someone used their card at the casino’s ATM, entered their PIN, and within seconds, two U.S. bills popped out. News Five has confirmed that Caribi Bleu Casino doesn’t have Central Bank authorization for this machine. The law states that anyone who doesn’t comply with the Exchange Control Regulations Act can be fined or face jail time. Additionally, under the Payment Systems Act, you can’t operate an ATM without a license from the Central Bank, and that license must be clearly displayed inside the establishment. Tonight, many questions remain unanswered. Where does the U.S. currency for the ATM come from? Did the Gaming Control Board do its homework before giving Caribi Bleu Casino its license? And has there been any compliance check to ensure they’re following regulations and anti-money laundering laws? We’ll keep digging to find the answers. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez