News briefs .... news briefs .... news I
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.......... From London in late August came reports of the British version of a
"Brilab" type of investigation--involving amusement arcade operators. The
value-added tax (V.A.T.) fraud investigation, code-named Operation Nudger,
ended at a London magistrate's court when eight arcade operators paid 2.7
million pounds-sterling in an out-of-court settlement. The court was told that
the settlement covered unpaid V.A.T. customs costs reported to be more than
one million pounds, in lieu of penalties for the fraud.
Customs officials
told Magistrate Edward MacDermott that the fraud involved ten million pounds
being suppressed, rather than reported as takings from amusement machines.
The machines included video games and "fruit," or amusement-with-prizes
machines, some fitted with "nudge" buttons (which gave the tax investigation
its name).
The investigation was launched after officers became suspicious of
the V.A.T. returns from the operations of the eight operators and seven companies
directly involved. More than 100 customs officers carried out a series of
raids on London & Blackpool arcades in March, and observations reportedly showe d
that some of the takings from the machines were "skimmed" from the business
without being entered into accounting books . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . A group of pool table operators in Ohio has newly organized a
statewide 8-ball pool league. Each Ohio Music and Amusement Association member
was invited to join the 20 to 26 week schedule by contacting the OMAA office
in Columbus (telephone: 614/221-8600) ........ ... . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . The Valley Company's promotional program designed ·for both
distributors and operators is in full swing, to bolster the earning draw of the
table in this period of video dominancy.
The "Sun-sational Sail Away"
offers a grand prize of a week's Caribean Cruise, a second prize of a Valley
pool table, plus 23 additional prizes, with the winners to be announced at the
AMOA Show in Chicago on October 30, all for the sale and promotion of pool
tables at the local level ....... . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ........ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
...... . ... Casino gaming is again under consideration in Connecticut: a state
committee has been formed to study proposals and issue a report prior to the
next legislative session's convening in February 1982. Meanwhile, New York
State's lottery director is studying state-subsidized video poker and black
jack games, to be installed in hotels, bars, and businesses for a trial
period. Plans for the test are pending, but coin- op amusements people are
concerned about the ill effects that may come from the close association
of payout machines and arcade pieces in New York . An analysis will be
upcoming in Play Meter . . .......... . . . . . .... . ... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.......... Five men have pleaded quilty in New Jersey to charges of
cheating slot machines in Atlantic City casinos , according to the state
Division of Criminal Justice. The five, all from Annapolis, Maryland,
admitted to seeking out particular slot machines and manipulating the handles
so as to stop the wheels at a particular symbol and hit the jackpot. All
five face up to 18 months in jail and fines up t o $25,000 ......... . ........ . ... .
········ .. Family Game Sales & Distributorship, Nampa, Idaho announced it has
been tapped as the distributor for Amstar and U.S. Billiards in the states
of Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington , Colorado , Wyoming, and North Dakota .....
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PLAY METER, October 15, 1981
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