Pagcor shuts down another casino

The gaming corporation said that the facility failed to meet the escrow requirements.

Philippines.- The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) announced that they shut down a casino inside the Hotel Stotensberg on Friday because they failed to settle the remaining escrow of US$5.1 million.

Andrea Domingo, Pagcor’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “After several extension, they were not able to meet the escrow requirements.” Casablanca Casino features more than 190 slot machines, along with two VIP rooms and 36 gaming tables. Carmelo Lazatin, Angeles City Mayor and former Pampanga representative, is one of the shareholders of Stotsenberg who blamed Frontier Capital Group for not fulfilling its obligations.

Australian company Frontier Capital Group announced in February 2016 that they acquired the hotel along with the casino from Stotsenberg Leisure & Hotel Corporation for approximately US$26 million. At the moment of the closure, the casino had over 200 employees working at the facility.

Last month, Domingo confirmed that the state gaming regulator incremented its gross gaming revenues to US$1 billion at the end of 2016. “Not only were we able to maintain our revenues, but we were actually able to improve it,” she had said. The numbers are also significantly better than the ones registered in the third quarter, when gross gaming revenues fell from US$29.5 million in 2015 to US$14.5 million in 2016. The license suspension of PhilWeb, one of Philippines biggest operators, was one of the main reasons why the revenues suffered a decline.