The next step could now be to look for advice and collaboration from foreign experts in Singapore. The police are thinking about asking the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) if they could call upon foreign experts to shed some light on this delicate case.

But even if the police decide to move in that direction, the situation still appears complicated for them. The lawyers of the bookmakers have already expressed their intention of preventing the tenth CD-ROM from being deciphered abroad. Moreover, the bookmakers have already stopped collaborating with the police invoking their right to silence. As they are under no provisional charge, they were allowed to go home but they have to be available at anytime if the police decide to question them further.

Last Friday, an IT officer at the cyber tower was also questioned by the police, as he was suspected of hiding confidential documents coming from the famous CDs of bookmaker Joomun. After a long search in his office – when some documents are said to have been taken – the police took the IT officer to the Line Barracks to give more details. He was told that he “doesn’t have the right to communicate with anyone about these highly confidential documents regarding these CD-ROMS”. The IT officer, who is actually suspected of feeding opposition MPs with information on these CDs, was finally freed during the afternoon.

Meanwhile, the police are continuing their enquiry. They believe that the first nine CDs correspond to the nine first racing days at the Champ-de-Mars since the beginning of the season. If they do not manage to read the tenth CD, they may then use another resort: checking the phone numbers on the bookmakers’ list is still under consideration. But here again, they may have to deal with the disagreement of the bookmakers’ lawyers.

The case has even got to Parliament; the opposition leader, Nando Bodha, mentioned the names of two ministers – Asraf Dulull and Rama Valayden – asking if they were on the list of the bookmaker. Rama Valayden was not in the country but Asraf Dulull said the opposition leaders had no grounds for asking such questions and insisted he did not even like horse-racing.

<B>Illegal bets used for money laundering or tax evasion</B>

One of the reasons why credit punting is illegal is that such bets are used by some people to launder money. The Mauritius Turf Club (MTC) is perfectly aware of the problem but it is really difficult for the authorities to regulate it. One of its members concedes, “There are many illegal bets on each horse-racing day and the money obtained must be laundered somewhere.” “It is a well-known fact that, if you want to launder money through betting, you first have to be hand in glove with a bookmaker. He can give you a receipt stating that you won a large amount in horse-racing while you have never betted or won,” the MTC reveals. Of course, bookmakers also have an advantage in these illegal bets. The receipt they give the fake punters allows them to appear to reduce their profits, thus paying less tax. The MTC concedes that the implementation of a central server to list the bets helped to reduce the number of such illegal bets – bookmakers’ turnover increased by 50% - but it did not eradicate the scourge. “The low number of people being caught shows that these networks are well run in,” concludes a member of the MTC.