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<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=605 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=2>[SIZE=+3][SIZE=+2]Some cops took swim in his pool, he said[/SIZE]
Ayre counterattacks and seeks probe of raid[/SIZE]
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=300>
Calvin Ayre, the wealthy gambling operator whose home police raided Friday, says he may go to the Sala IV constitutional court to find out all the facts about the law enforcement action. And he said the government of Costa Rica should launch an investigation into the violation of his constitutional rights as well as the theft, damage, loss of filming assets and damage to his reputation internationally and here in Costa Rica.
The warrant for the raid seeking illegal gambling was based on fundamental inaccuracies coming from newspaper articles, the Internet and mistranslations of press releases, he said. The investigation was of the wrong person, the wrong location and the wrong act, he said.
In addition, the 60 to 100 police and immigration officers helped themselves to a buffet of food, and three police officers stripped and took a swim in his pool, he said.
But all is not lost. Ayre said the raid might become the exciting conclusion of the poker championship reality show that triggered the police action. ?It could make a nice and exciting ending to a show watched by millions of people around the world.? Ayre said in a Monday night press release. ?After all it is reality television.? The first segment airs April 15.
Police, judicial agents and immigration officials raided the swank Santa Ana Bodog Compound and arrived during a gathering celebrating completion of the last of ?Calvin Ayre Wildcard Poker? being produced for Fox Sports. The celebration was being filmed because much of the six-part reality show features Ayre's lifestyle.
Ayre, a 44-year-old Canadian, denies he violated any Costa Rican gambling laws because there was no cost to the participants to enter the $500,000 poker challenge that was taped, he said. In addition, Bodog.com of which he is CEO and founder, had disclosed earlier Monday that the actual poker games that are part of the show were filmed at the Channel 7 television studio in Sabana Oeste.
Said the earlier release: "Calvin Ayre is not involved with Channel 7. All aspects of production were handled and hired by Fox Sports, and Fox Sports rented a studio in Channel 7. The relationship between Fox and Channel 7 was strictly the rental of the studio."
That's why Ayre maintains officials raided the wrong place. Channel 7 would not comment to a reporter Monday.
Ayre said the raid is causing his company to reevaluate its commitment of millions of dollars to future television productions in Costa Rica. "The government of Costa Rica will need to decide if it is willing to choose to
</TD><TD vAlign=top width=300>receive lawful foreign investment or if it will continue to allow overzealous bureaucrats, police, and officials to harass companies who are investing money into the Costa Rican economy and creating jobs for the Costa Rican people," he said.
Bodog.com employs hundreds of Costa Ricans
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The Ayre release said the search warrant was based on a sworn statement by
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Prosecutor Victor Julio Vargas and signed by Judge Adrian Molina of the San Jos? first judicial circuit. Police confiscated two computers, and, Ayre said, a licensed pistol.
"It appears the sole basis of the warrant granted to search Ayre?s residence came from inaccurate tabloid articles in a local Costa Rican paper and on the Internet, plus inaccurate translations of the TV series press releases and other international articles such as Ayre?s recent cover article on Forbes Magazine out of New York," said the release. Forbes last week named Ayre as one of the world's billionaires.
He said that six actors playing the roles of bodyguards in the filming were detained by immigration agents. He suggested that these individuals were not actually working for money. ?Many up-and-coming actors are willing to play roles in productions such as this without compensation in exchange for the experience. We cannot continue to risk our actors being thrown in jail unjustly? said Ayre. Four of the men have been invited to leave Costa Rica by immigration officials.
Aside from the unfortunate incident, the wrap-up party was a success, Ayre had said earlier in the day. "The party was eventually moved from the Bodog Compound to the Intercontinental Hotel where I spent the evening partying with models, celebrities and poker pros."
Bodog is an international online gambling operation with estimated income of $7 billion in 2005. It has spun off a number of associated entities, including Bodog Entertainment and The Calvin Ayre Foundation.
The daily Al D?a was the publication that brought official notice last week to Ayre and the Ayre residence in the upscale Valle del Sol subdivision. The newspaper sought comments from Rodrigo Arias, the future minister of the Presidencia in the ?scar Arias government, and also from current security officials.
Ayre has a date to talk with prosecutors Wednesday. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=2 width=605 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top align=middle colSpan=2>[SIZE=+3][SIZE=+2]Some cops took swim in his pool, he said[/SIZE]
Ayre counterattacks and seeks probe of raid[/SIZE]
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=300>
By Saray Ram?rez Vindas
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff
and the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Calvin Ayre, the wealthy gambling operator whose home police raided Friday, says he may go to the Sala IV constitutional court to find out all the facts about the law enforcement action. And he said the government of Costa Rica should launch an investigation into the violation of his constitutional rights as well as the theft, damage, loss of filming assets and damage to his reputation internationally and here in Costa Rica.
The warrant for the raid seeking illegal gambling was based on fundamental inaccuracies coming from newspaper articles, the Internet and mistranslations of press releases, he said. The investigation was of the wrong person, the wrong location and the wrong act, he said.
In addition, the 60 to 100 police and immigration officers helped themselves to a buffet of food, and three police officers stripped and took a swim in his pool, he said.
But all is not lost. Ayre said the raid might become the exciting conclusion of the poker championship reality show that triggered the police action. ?It could make a nice and exciting ending to a show watched by millions of people around the world.? Ayre said in a Monday night press release. ?After all it is reality television.? The first segment airs April 15.
Police, judicial agents and immigration officials raided the swank Santa Ana Bodog Compound and arrived during a gathering celebrating completion of the last of ?Calvin Ayre Wildcard Poker? being produced for Fox Sports. The celebration was being filmed because much of the six-part reality show features Ayre's lifestyle.
Ayre, a 44-year-old Canadian, denies he violated any Costa Rican gambling laws because there was no cost to the participants to enter the $500,000 poker challenge that was taped, he said. In addition, Bodog.com of which he is CEO and founder, had disclosed earlier Monday that the actual poker games that are part of the show were filmed at the Channel 7 television studio in Sabana Oeste.
Said the earlier release: "Calvin Ayre is not involved with Channel 7. All aspects of production were handled and hired by Fox Sports, and Fox Sports rented a studio in Channel 7. The relationship between Fox and Channel 7 was strictly the rental of the studio."
That's why Ayre maintains officials raided the wrong place. Channel 7 would not comment to a reporter Monday.
Ayre said the raid is causing his company to reevaluate its commitment of millions of dollars to future television productions in Costa Rica. "The government of Costa Rica will need to decide if it is willing to choose to
</TD><TD vAlign=top width=300>receive lawful foreign investment or if it will continue to allow overzealous bureaucrats, police, and officials to harass companies who are investing money into the Costa Rican economy and creating jobs for the Costa Rican people," he said.
Bodog.com employs hundreds of Costa Ricans
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=299 border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=center width=126>
Calvin Ayre
</TD><TD vAlign=top width=170>in its head office in San Jos? and is a pure exporter of services, the release said. 100 percent of the money Bodog.com spends in Costa Rica is generated internationally, thus benefiting Costa Rica?s economic position in the world, it said.
The Ayre release said the search warrant was based on a sworn statement by
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Prosecutor Victor Julio Vargas and signed by Judge Adrian Molina of the San Jos? first judicial circuit. Police confiscated two computers, and, Ayre said, a licensed pistol.
"It appears the sole basis of the warrant granted to search Ayre?s residence came from inaccurate tabloid articles in a local Costa Rican paper and on the Internet, plus inaccurate translations of the TV series press releases and other international articles such as Ayre?s recent cover article on Forbes Magazine out of New York," said the release. Forbes last week named Ayre as one of the world's billionaires.
He said that six actors playing the roles of bodyguards in the filming were detained by immigration agents. He suggested that these individuals were not actually working for money. ?Many up-and-coming actors are willing to play roles in productions such as this without compensation in exchange for the experience. We cannot continue to risk our actors being thrown in jail unjustly? said Ayre. Four of the men have been invited to leave Costa Rica by immigration officials.
Aside from the unfortunate incident, the wrap-up party was a success, Ayre had said earlier in the day. "The party was eventually moved from the Bodog Compound to the Intercontinental Hotel where I spent the evening partying with models, celebrities and poker pros."
Bodog is an international online gambling operation with estimated income of $7 billion in 2005. It has spun off a number of associated entities, including Bodog Entertainment and The Calvin Ayre Foundation.
The daily Al D?a was the publication that brought official notice last week to Ayre and the Ayre residence in the upscale Valle del Sol subdivision. The newspaper sought comments from Rodrigo Arias, the future minister of the Presidencia in the ?scar Arias government, and also from current security officials.
Ayre has a date to talk with prosecutors Wednesday. </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
