The Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) must be really annoyed. They thought the questioning of the bookmaker Farook Joomun, from whom ten CD-ROMs were seized a few weeks ago, would finally give them the answers they had been seeking for so many days. But the bookmaker said he did not know any of the pseudonyms on the CDs and did not even know where these names came from.

The story goes back to three weeks ago when the ADSU seized ten CDs at the bookmaker?s house. The first eight CDs, that the police wer able to decipher, contained about 200 names of punters including 25 names of important personalities of the country. The ninth one was empty while the last one has kept its secrets. When the police tried to decipher the last CD ? expected to reveal the names of the 25 personalities ? they could not open it, as it was blocked by a virus.

The ADSU first thought of sending it abroad for foreign experts to try and open it. However the bookmaker?s lawyer, Raouf Gulbul, threatened to start a legal battle to prevent them from sending the CD abroad. As a result, the most appropriate and rapid way of deciphering the CDs is to call upon local specialists from the private sector. One of them however said, ?I don?t think Mauritius has the required competencies and equipment to do it here?. The police have not made their final decision yet but it seems neither of the two solutions are being given up yet.

In view of the time it will take to decipher the CD, the police had ?bet? on Farook Joomun?s questioning to help the investigation to progress. ?I don?t even know where the list that you?re showing me comes from,? was the only reply the police could get from the bookmaker. As he was not there when the police seized the CDs, he can indeed say that they do not belong to him.

The police are now relying on the questioning of Farook Joomun?s son, Riyad. They were disconcerted when Farook Joomun behaved as if he was suffering from ?amnesia? when he was questioned about the CDs found at his home. As he was not there when it was searched, the police couldn?t force him to reveal the names of the people on the CDs. As for his son, the situation could be different: he was present when the police came to his home and he won?t be able to say he doesn?t know where the lists of names came from. Farook Joomun was provisionally charged with ?failing to pay tax on gross stakes? in the middle of the week but was finally released on bail? After questioning, he was authorised to go back home but the police are already thinking of taking him him in again soon.

<B>Other bookmakers in the pipeline... </B>

If the ADSU did not have much luck with the bookmaker Joomun, they hope the raid at Ah Pin & Co Ltd IT shop last Tuesday in Port-Louis will help them trap dishonest bookmakers. They caught Guy Tze Tchan, the famous bookmaker Ah Lee Seng, in the act when he was paying a ?caller? for credit betting for the 12th day of the racing season. The caller, Mamade Ajmal Goolamy, admitted he was paying Rs 3,000 for a bet on a race on the 15th of July. As for Guy Tze Tchan, he was provisionally charged with ?carrying on the business of a bookmaker without licence? but denied the allegations of the caller saying that the money found at his place ? around Rs 1.2 million ? was intended to pay punters who had placed bets on the 12th day of the season. His father, Ah Lee Seng, who is a well-knpwn bookmaker, confirmed his son?s statement but said he didn?t know anything about the involvement of his son in the bookmaking business. Ah Lee Seng is suspected of doing ?credit betting?. The laptop of the shop has been seized by the police and should reveal its secrets ? including new names of punters ? in the coming days. If no virus hinders the development of the investigation, the revelations promise to be explosive?