PHILIPSBURG – Three of the four casinos owned by Francesco Corallo have reopened after they got hit by Hurricane Irma in September. According to a spokesman, the damages to the establishments amount to “millions of dollars.”
Beach Plaza in Philipsburg, Paradise Plaza in Cole Bay and the Dunes casino in Beacon Hill on the property of the Alegria Resort are now all open for business from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The Starz Casino in Cupecoy is still closed, but the spokesman said that this property will be remodeled. “It will reopen within a reasonably short time.”
The company has dropped its plans for the development of Starz City in Cupecoy, between the Starz Casino and the American University.
The hurricane has not affected the staff of the casinos. The spokesman said that the company has kept everybody on the payroll.
The spokesman did not want to go too much into the situation of the company’s owner, who was deported to Italy on August 16 of last year, after he had been arrested on December 13, 2016 at the request of Italian authorities. Upon his arrival in Rome, Corallo was immediately released because he had already spent more than the maximum term for the accusations in pretrial detention in St. Maarten.
While the prosecutor’s office at the time issued a press release stating that the Italians suspect the 56-year old casino owner of tax fraud, bribery, money laundering and membership of a criminal organization, Corallo noted during an extradition hearing that he has not been directly accused of money laundering.
In an exclusive interview with the Today Newspaper, published on April 3, 2017, a rather optimistic Corallo more or less dismissed the accusations against his person, saying that he had not been accused of money laundering or bribery, but that the charges have to do with late tax payments that date back to 2006. “We paid late, but we paid everything,” he said.
At the end of the interview he sad optimistically: “One day I will be acquitted.”
Corallo has been waiting for the conclusion of this affair in Italy, but so far nothing concrete has happened. However, his spokesman told stmaartennews.com on Wednesday: “There have been a number of favorable developments and he has full confidence in the conclusion of this matter.”
Above photo caption: Casino owner Francesco Corallo is optimistic about the conclusion of his legal battle in Italy. Photo Hilbert Haar.
Photo caption: Hurricane Irma took down the Starz Casino in Cupecoy. Photo Hilbert Haar.
Source: StMaartenNews http://stmaartennews.com/business/corallo-will-rebuild-starz-casino-cupecoy/
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