Tropika Intl. Unidentifiable $.03 stocklemon.com
Guess Stock Lemon did not look hard enough since it only took two minutes of my time to find this information on this stock that the otcjournal was pumping
ONTARIO SECURITIES COMMISSION: TROPIKA INTERNATIONAL LTD - OSC Cease Trading Order Re Tropika International Limited
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Story Filed: Monday, November 05, 2001 11:57 AM EST
Toronto, Ontario, Nov 05, 2001 (Market News Publishing via COMTEX) -- The Cease Trading Order issued on October 24, 2001 will continue November 5, 2001.
CONTACT: TEL: (416) 593-8314 Ontario Securities Commission
E-MAIL: inquiries@osc.gov.on.ca
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KEYWORD: Toronto, Ontario
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Tropika Casinos Fail to Meet Another Deadline for Paying Stiffed Players
by Fred Faust, RGTonline.com
This Article Sponsored by:
The Online Players Association, which has been pressuring Tropika International Limited to pay about $43,000 that Tropika’s casinos owe OPA members, is negotiating with Tropika after another deadline for settling the accounts passed. Players have been owed the money since December, and the OPA had postponed until April 30 its threat to take action against Tropika.
In a message to his members this morning, OPA president Steve Adkins said he had just emailed John K. Ashbee, Tropika’s chief executive, to tell him that “all time has expired” and that OPA would commence its threatened actions. Ashbee then called him, Adkins reported in the message, and said he needs another three weeks or so to pay everyone.
Adkins said he told Ashbee that some money would have to be paid today. Later, Adkins reported to members that he was called by “a David who is the CFO of Tropika.” Apparently, that was David I. Prue. He told Adkins that Tropika could pay $2,000 today.
Adkins and a committee of OPA leaders were considering this afternoon whether to again postpone their actions against Tropika. The previously threatened actions include the filing of a complaint with the Canadian Venture Exchange, where Tropika’s stock is traded, and the filing of a complaint with the authorities in Dominica that license the casinos.
Adkins had also threatened “a widely publicized cautionary to players regarding the payout record and general poor practice of your casinos.”
Tropika is based in Toronto, Ontario. Its subsidiary, Online Commerce Inc., operates casinos called Fairplay, Jetset, Magic Carpet, Atlantis Star, Orient Express, Astrobet, Aztec Gold, Bulls ’n Bears, Flying Dragon and Old Glory. All the casinos use software from Microgaming Systems, and all are licensed in the Caribbean island of Dominica.
On Friday, Adkins told RGT Online that none of his players has reported receiving any money from Tropika. The $43,000 is owed to about 25 OPA members. The Tropika sites owe about $110,000 to 100 players, including OPA members and non-members combined.
The debts stem from overly generous bonuses that the Tropika casinos offered during promotions in November.
Ashbee has not returned calls to RGT Online, but apparently his company is short on cash. According to an earnings report posted on Tropika’s Web site last week, the company had only CND$81,398 in cash at the end of its third quarter, Feb. 28.
It lost $564,000 in the quarter, on revenue of $305,000. Although the company has businesses besides the casinos, all of its revenue for the quarter came from gambling. The combined wagers at its casinos totaled $14 million for the quarter.
In an email to OPA members today, Adkins said of Tropika: “These guys are STILL running their promos and taking wagers knowing that even one big win will render them incapable of paying the player/s.”
Still Chasing Pinnace Investments
Adkins is also still trying to collect from Pinnace Investments NV, a former licensee of Gambling Software.com. Pinnace closed its 14 casinos in late January, and still owes money to players. Adkins said OPA members are owed about $15,000, and that a Pinnace official had told him the total amount owed to players is $40,000.
Adkins said Mickey Moore, who identifies himself as a consultant to Pinnace, told him that the OPA members would get their money by the end of last week. Monday, Adkins sent an email to Moore, telling him that by the end of this week, Adkins will use his radio show on casinogazette.com, which is owned by the OPA, to “release all contact info, phone numbers, addresses, court cases, and everything else we have found” about the owners of Pinnace.
Pinnace, like many operators of online gaming sites, got into trouble by offering excessive bonuses to players, Adkins said.
“There’s a whole slew of people out there that do nothing but pounce on these type of bonuses,” he told RGT Online. “They like to call themselves ‘advantage players,’ but I call them ‘bonus hustlers.’ The ‘advantage player’ will follow the rules to a T and then cash out. That’s different from the ‘bonus abuser.’
“They just need to stop offering such outrageous bonuses, that they all know they can’t pay. Any casino that offers over 15 percent loses whatever advantage they ever had owning a casino.
“My recommendation is: Just do away with bonuses, do some kind of loyalty program or something, because percentage bonuses will catch up to a casino. I tell all the OPA (recommended) casinos, if you offer more than 15 percent, you’re asking for trouble. I see casinos closing up every day.”
Sometimes, Adkins added, it’s the players that rip off the casino.
“There’s more crooked players than there are crooked casinos,” Adkins said. “People don’t like to address that issue. There’s players out there that not only will they bonus hustle you, but when all is said and done, they’ll do a (credit card) charge-back on the original purchase. Players don’t like it when the OPA talks real openly about that, but it’s a big big problem.”
The OPA has nearly 1,000 members, who pay $25 in annual dues |
