Tourism Minister Dionisio D’Aguilar said yesterday executives of the Bahamas Gaming Board were paid large amounts of money.

Speaking in the House of Assembly on a resolution to thank the Governor General for reading the speech from the Throne, Mr. D’Aguilar  said when he came into office there were four individuals being paid in excess of $200,000 per annum, after you factored in all their pay, bonuses, gratuities and allowances.

“There was one individual taking home in excess of $150,000 and there were numerous other senior executives earning between $80,000 and $100,000 per annum,” D’Aguilar said.

He added that shortly before and after the general elections the previous board and management were conducting a salary review and proposing some new salary scales.

D’Aguilar said these findings were eye-popping as he, as a cabinet minister, only makes $71,000.

“The secretary was making $192,500 and the deputy secretary $121,000. And the next category of seven executives was to make $110,000,” D’Aguilar said

He added that he had a chance to review the financial statements of the gaming houses and the profits reported were eye-popping.

“With the gaming houses being so cash rich and the government being so cash strapped not fulfilling its requests for social services and education, I am sure the Minister of Finance will be looking to enhance his tax revenues from this sector,” D’Aguilar said.

He added that gaming houses continue to enjoy the benefits of being a cartel as there is a moratorium in place to prevent any new companies from entering the market.

D’Aguilar said he is cautious about how the gaming houses are operating as banks in some islands as the movement of unregulated cash can set off an alarm somewhere in the world and put the Bahamas on a “black list”.

“The gaming board will consult with the authorities at The Central Bank to determine how best to move forward on the issue to ensure that the gaming houses do not negatively impact the stability of our financial sector,”D’Ag