Gaming chairman appointed as adviser in New Jersey

Mario Galea, chairman of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority has been appointed New Jersey's go-to online gambling adviser.

Earlier this month, the former chief executive of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority, who had introduced Malta's remote gaming rules and established the island as the largest online gaming jurisdiction in the world, was appointed chairman of the regulator by the Labour government.

However, Galea's responsibilities have increased after New Jersey's Director of Gaming Enforcement, David Rebuck, announced that the American state has appointed Mario Galea & his Random Consulting group as its go-to online gambling adviser.

Casinos Online, a casino review and gambling guide portal said: "Galea is going to be a busy man - just last week he was appointed chairman of Malta regulator the Lotteries & Gaming Authority, which he was instrumental in forming & managing between 2003 & 2008."

Galea is currently the chief executive of his own gaming consultancy firm, Random Consulting. This month, he replaced Lotteries and Gaming Authority chairman Nick Xuereb, who chaired the regulator at the same time that he was employed as chief financial officer of national airline Air Malta.

Galea was the first CEO of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority between 2004 and 2008. "The new government is committed to the strengthen and grow the online gaming industry, both strategically and organically," parliamentary secretary Edward Zammit Lewis said.

Mario Galea has 18 years' experience in gaming and today works as a consultant with his own firm in the United States. "I am delighted to be returning to the LGA and looking forward to work with the staff to keep Malta as a centre of excellence for gaming policy," Galea said.

In 2004 he was involved in a controversy over his conflict of interest because he had not disposed of his shareholding in Bell Med Ltd, which serviced internet gaming operators, until 10 May 2004, four months after becoming the authority's chief.