Two Greek casinos have been ordered to close for two months due to their failure to remit their required social security payments to the government.
On Thursday, Greece’s Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) ordered the closure of the Rio and Thraki (Alexandroupoli) casinos for the next two months as punishment for failing to remit €25m and €12.5m, respectively, in Single Social Security Entity payments to the government.
Both casinos are operated by companies controlled by businessman Konstantinos Piladakis, who was warned in December that failure to clear his debts would result in regulatory sanctions. Should the debts remain unpaid at the end of the two-month suspension, the venues’ licenses could be permanently revoked.
Two other casinos, Club Hotel Casino Loutraki and Casino Corfu, were issued fines of €5k and €75k, respectively, after their owners made arrangements with the government to honor their social security obligations following December’s warning.
Greece approved new rules last October to allow the HGC to revoke the gaming license of any casino operator that proved reluctant to honor its obligations to the social security program. Greek casinos collectively owed just over €110m but Greek media reported that €61.7m of this sum was recouped before Thursday’s suspensions were issued.
Attorneys representing the two Piladakis-owned casinos reportedly told the HGC that the law being used to enforce the collection was invalid, in that the debts it aimed to collect predated it by several months.
The two suspended casinos have reportedly been struggling financially for some time and the two companies – Theros International Gaming and Vivere Entertainment – that operate the suspended casinos may use the suspension to justify filing for bankruptcy protection to avoid their debt obligations.
Greece’s casinos are mostly small concerns and the government’s efforts to open a world-class integrated resort are proving equally problematic. Last week, US tribal gaming operator Hard Rock International announced its intention to appeal its disqualification from bidding on the sole casino license at the proposed Hellinikon project being developed on the site of Athens’ old airport.
