Ministers linked to US casino chiefs [View All]

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Ministers linked to US casino chiefs

Antony Barnett, investigations editor


Dramatic new evidence about the close relationship between ministers and some of the most senior figures in US gambling, who were planning to build Las Vegas-style super casinos across Britain, can be revealed today.

Documents obtained by The Observer reveal how the Department for Culture, Media and Sport pressed the Treasury to change rules on money laundering to help US gambling corporations. They also show that ministers and department officials held meetings with senior casino officials behind closed doors in Las Vegas, South Africa and France as well as the UK.

The disclosures raise serious questions about statements denying any move on money laundering given to the Commons by the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell. The Conservatives have accused Jowell of misleading parliament and have written to her demanding an explanation.

At the end of last year the government was planning to publish a highly controversial bill that would allow the creation of more than a hundred Las Vegas-style super casinos across Britain. American gambling bosses had targeted Britain as an area of rapid expansion and were looking to make huge profits. The plans provoked public outrage and were opposed by MPs across all parties, who feared it would turn Britain into a nation of gamblers.

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http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1544276,00.html