Goa casino files complaint against tourism minister

September 30th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco was once again arrested and released by the Crime Branch Wednesday, this time in a case of threatening and criminal intimidation, police said. Pacheco, a National Congress Party (NCP) legislator, against whom this is the fifth criminal case booked in the last few years, was arrested this morning after he drove to the Crime Branch from the Secretariat, where he had addressed a press conference.

September 29th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Crime Branch officials Tuesday quizzed Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco for nearly two hours in connection with a casino extortion case registered against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator. Mickky was booked by the Crime Branch Sep 17 for allegedly extorting Rs.3.69 lakh, assaulting casino staffers and threatening them with dire consequences.

September 19th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco, booked two days ago for allegedly threatening and extorting money from a casino, was Saturday granted interim bail by a district court in Margao. The minister has alleged that Congress leaders are out to "nail" him.

September 19th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco was Saturday granted interim bail by a district court in Margao. He was booked two days ago for allegedly threatening and extorting money from a casino.

September 17th, 2009 PANAJI - The crime branch of Goa Police Thursday booked controversial state Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco for extortion and threatening a casino employee, officials said. A police spokesman said that Mickky, a Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator, had extorted Rs.3.69 lakh from the management of 'Treasures' casino at the Majorda beach resort in South Goa, in the wee hours of June 1.

June 23rd, 2009 PANAJI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa Tuesday watered down its aggressive 'no-casino' policy, saying it opposes offshore casinos but onshore casinos were a "necessary evil" for the sake of tourism in the state. "We are completely opposed to offshore casinos.

June 22nd, 2009 PANAJI - After training its guns on the Congress-led coalition in Goa for allowing both offshore and onshore casinos to run amok, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now finds itself in the crosshair of an onshore casino operator. Update Recreation and Gaming Private Ltd (URGPL), a firm which operates mechanised casinos in several five-star resorts in Goa, has accused leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar of pandering to the offshore casino lobby during his tenure as chief minister.

June 22nd, 2009 PANAJI - Saying that "ministers going to casinos is bad", Goa Congress chief Subhash Shirodkar Monday said the involvement of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) cabinet ministers in casino-related controversies was "in bad taste". I can only say that the casino episode is in bad taste, Shirodkar said at a press conference at the party headquarters here.

June 19th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa's Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco along with an aide have been accused of threatening and criminally intimidating the management of a casino. Pacheco's actions have prompted the leader of the opposition Manohar Parrikar to demand that the minister be sacked from the state cabinet.

June 19th, 2009 PANAJI - An aide of Goa Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco has been arrested for threatening the management of a casino that has been accused of not paying the minister his winnings of Rs.1.25 crore. Matthew Diniz was arrested late Thursday after threatening the staff of the Treasures Casino at the Majorda beach resort, said police inspector Edwin Colaco.

June 18th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco has accused a casino operator, working out of a popular five-star resort in South Goa, of not paying him Rs.1.25 crore that he had won at the casino last month. In a complaint filed at the Colva police station, the controversial Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) legislator Mickky Pacheco has said that the management of Treasures, a licensed casino operating at the Majorda beach resort, had denied him his winnings in the casino between May 15 to May 22 this year.

March 24th, 2009 PANAJI - Police in Goa are investigating a complaint filed against the operator of an onshore casino, accused of beating a customer and denying him his winnings after he went to claim the money. According to a complaint registered with the Anjuna police station Tuesday, Abhijeet Salgaonkar (25), a resident of Vasco, said that he was assaulted by bouncers attached to Casino Mint, located within the Riveira resort in Arpora, Monday night.

March 6th, 2009 PANAJI - A traffic police constable has filed a complaint against Goa's Tourism Minister Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco for allegedly threatening him while he was on duty. Traffic constable Sudhir Sawant, who was posted near the busy Hospicio traffic junction, has stated in his complaint that Pacheco hurled abuses at him and threatened him with dire consequences when he was discharging his duties.

March 3rd, 2009 PANAJI - Offshore casinos in Goa are committing 'gross violations' of the law, the state's Tourism minister Francisco Pacheco has said. The minister, better known as Mickky, warned that provisions of the Goa Tourism and Trade Act would be invoked if the casino operators did not clean up their act.

January 2nd, 2009 PANAJI - A bigamy complaint has been filed against high profile Goa Tourism Minister Francisco Pacheco by his estranged wife, who has provided documents to back her charge that her husband married another woman. Francisco alias Mickky Pacheco's estranged wife Sara, in her complaint filed at the Colva police station and the Salcete Block Development Office, alleged that the minister had committed bigamy and had harassed her mentally and physically.