Do Nothing and I’ll Give You 20 Million
That’s essentially what a company called Tabcorp alledgely offered potential rival Clubs Victoria to not bid on a lucrative poker machine agreement in Australia. Tabcorp and a company called Tatts Group have a duopoly in Victoria right now, essentially owning the poker machine market.
Apparently once Tabcorp heard about Clubs Victoria and their plans to compete in the poker machines market the Tabcorp Managing Director, Elmer Funke Kupper made the “offer” by asking that: “[Clubs Victoria] refrain from participating in any bidding process for gaming licences; and issue a press release by 4pm that day [March 12] stating that the plaintiff [Clubs Victoria] supported the current gaming licence structure and that there should be no changes”
When cornered amid the allegations, officials from Tabcorp said it’s all a big misunderstanding (it always is) and that the 20 million dollar offer was a sponsorship deal. So that’s why you call bribery in Australia now? Regardless, the matter is now before the courts in Australia and if found guilty, Tabcorp stands to lose much more than their strangle hold on the poker machine market.
