A betting shop owned by Opposition leader Marc Bean may be illegally offering customers the chance to win millions of dollars on an overseas lottery.

And police are understood to have questioned staff at Paradise Games on Court Street as part of a swoop on illegal gaming activities at a number of betting establishments across the Island.

Mr Bean has previously denied that his company was breaking gambling laws, insisting that Paradise Games offers “lottery betting”, which allows customers to place bets on numbers that are drawn in weekly US state lotteries. He added that his games offer payouts of several hundreds of dollars only, rather than huge, multimillion dollar jackpots paid out by such lotteries as Florida MegaMillions and Florida Powerball.

But this week a Royal Gazette reporter was able to select numbers for the Florida Powerball Lottery at Paradise Games.

And this newspaper has spoken to two members of the public who were also able to purchase tickets for Florida Lottery games. All three customers were assured that they were taking part in the Florida Lottery and could potentially win millions of dollars in prize money. One customer who spoke to The Royal Gazette said they were told by a Paradise Games manager that the company is a recognised broker for the Florida Lottery.

Under the 1944 Lotteries Act, it is a crime “to sell or distribute, offer or advertise for sale or distribution, or have in his possession for purposes of sale or distribution, any tickets or chances in a lottery promoted or proposed to be promoted either in Bermuda or elsewhere”.

The Royal Gazette reporter called on the store on Monday afternoon and was able to buy two Powerball tickets at $3.50 each. The tickets cost $2 in Florida.

The reporter was told that the jackpot for today’s draw was $300 million. He was also informed that, although he could collect his winnings from Paradise Games, he would have to hand over 75 percent of any winnings to US authorities through taxes.

A member of staff explained that the US government would normally take a 60 percent slice of any winnings in taxes, but because Bermuda is an overseas jurisdiction, the tax rate increased to 75 percent.

A member of the public contacted this newspaper after visiting Paradise Games on the same day as the reporter. The person, who has asked not to be named, said: “There were sheets of paper pasted to the wall advertising the various state lotteries. I asked the cashier how it worked and she informed me I had to speak to her manager. The manager explained to me that for the Florida Powerball I would circle five numbers and then choose one Powerball number, which he explained was the big winner. The signs on the wall advertised ‘Win Megamillions’. The cost of the Florida Powerball ticket was $3.50.

“I inquired about placing a bet on the outcome of the lottery which I explained I had seen on their website. The manager showed me a piece of paper with a chart that I had already seen which showed a fixed betting chart on the outcome of the Lottery numbers pulled. This was a completely separate betting scheme to the participation in the various state lotteries.

“I chose my Powerball numbers and then proceeded to the cashier who informed me I had to go to a different window. It is my understanding that the lady serving me at the other window was another manager who had recently come onto the shop floor.

“I decided to go forward with the Powerball lottery and the Fantasy 5 ($1.50 for the same type of Lottery but it is called more frequently). I paid $5 for my tickets and I was given a receipt showing the numbers I had chosen as well as my original sheet of paper with the numbers I had chosen circled.

“I asked the cashier what happened if I won. She explained that I could check the numbers on their website and then bring the receipt into the shop. They would then look at how much I had won and if the amount was $100 or so they would just pay me directly. I asked what happened if I won the big ‘Megamillions’ and she informed me that I would need to fly directly to Florida to collect that myself within five days, but they had not yet had that happen to anyone.

“I queried what evidence I would have to show the Florida lottery my winning numbers because my receipt was from Paradise Games in Bermuda. She explained that they are a broker of the Florida Lottery and so the receipt showing where your ticket was purchased would be sufficient.”

The Royal Gazette spoke to a second member of the public who also claimed to have purchased lottery tickets from the store recently.

They said that they were offered tickets for games in a number of US states and were again told that, if they won a significant amount, they would have to travel to Florida to collect their prize money.

The customer, who also asked not to be named, also claimed he was told that he could only pay for his numbers with cash, rather than a debit or credit card. The store salesman explained that, if a customer did not have cash, an ATM machine hidden behind a screen could be used to withdraw bills. The salesman also confirmed that the tickets sell for $2 in Florida and that Paradise Games was making a 100 percent profit on the $1.50 markup, because it was not paying any tax on the sale.

Questioned by The Royal Gazette last week, Mr Bean denied that his business was doing anything illegal.

“We run various 2, 3 and 4-balls, but none of us are actually operating the lottery,” he said.

“The 1944 Lotteries Act speaks to operating and conducting a lottery on our own accord. What we do is offer lottery betting. We’re not operating. If you look at Paddy Power and other major bookmakers — they offer the Irish lottery, but it isn’t controlled by the bookmaker. It’s apples and oranges. All we use is the numbers, as a fixed odd bet. We use, in my business, the numbers that are generated by the State lottery systems in the US. That way, nobody could accuse me of manipulating the numbers. It’s authenticated.

“We don’t get nothing from those [Florida Lottery] people. They run their own business. All we’re doing is using their numbers. They’re authentic, state approved. You can go and play the Florida Powerball online. But the Powerball can only be legally run by the State. All we do as bookmakers is offer bets on those numbers. We can bet on any event and lottery numbers is just one of them. It’s something other vendors have. It’s not in contravention of the Lotteries Act because we are not operating a lottery. It’s like the UK lottery run by the UK government; you can bet on it through Paddy Power or Ladbrookes.”

Despite those assurances, a Paradise Games brochure obtained by The Royal Gazette does offer customers the chance to win millions of dollars.

The brochure uses the Florida Lottery MegaMillions and Powerball logos and claims that the next draws for the games would be held on February 18 and 19, where the jackpots were $154 million and $400 million respectively. According to the Florida Lottery website, a MegaMillions draw was made on February 18 offering a $154 million jackpot. Similarly, a Powerball draw the following day offered a $400 million jackpot.

When informed of the games being offered in Bermuda, Florida Lottery lawyers argued that Paradise Games was breaking a number of regulations.

Deputy general counsel Louisa Warren said: “First, Paradise Games is not an authorised broker or agent of the Florida Lottery and we would not accept purchase receipts from Paradise Games in lieu of an actual lottery ticket. We require that the winning ticket be presented in order to claim a prize. When we pay a prize in excess of $5,000, we withhold federal income tax at the rate of 25 percent for US residents and 30 percent for non-residents.

“Florida law prohibits the sale of lottery tickets by anyone other than a contracted Florida Lottery retailer and also prohibits the sale of tickets for more than the price set by the lottery. However, since the activities occur in Bermuda, a determination of their legality would depend upon Bermuda law.

“Finally, Paradise Games has not sought the Florida Lottery’s permission to use our game logos. Its use of the logos without permission is an infringement of our intellectual property rights in the marks.”

The Royal Gazette understands that detectives visited the Paradise Games store on Friday,

Although police refused to confirm that they had interviewed Mr Bean, a spokesman did reveal that an investigation involving a number of betting shops had been launched.

“The Central Community Action Team is making enquiries at a number of betting shops in relation to the sale of overseas lottery tickets,” the spokesman said.

“As the matter is under investigation, no further comment will be made until those enquiries have concluded.”

Yesterday this newspaper contacted Mr Bean asking for comment on the story. We subsequently received a call from Mr Bean’s wife, lawyer Simone Smith-Bean, who said that she was representing Paradise Games.

She denied staff at Paradise Games offered customers jackpots worth millions of dollars, saying, “that doesn’t happen. That’s not true.”

In a statement she added: “I will begin my response by quoting the relevant authority that governs Paradise Games License which defines a bet as follows: (2) For the purposes of this Act a bet shall be a fixed odd bet only if each of the persons making it knows or can know, at the time he makes it, the amount he will win.

“In that regard it seems that the information that you base your inquiries are inaccurate and as result my client can not make any comment on the same at this time.

“Please also note that our clients will investigate any alleged infraction that is in contravention of any Law in Bermuda or in Florida to ensure that the operation is fully compliant with the relevant statues.”