Investigation Launched by Grand Prive Group

eCOGRA was commissioned to investigate Affiliates Program closure.

This was released today by eCOGRA:

London, 7 December 2009 – The Grand Privé group has been following the often inaccurate information exchanges on the Internet regarding the closure of Grand Privé Affiliates with interest, mindful of its reputation as a responsible and respectable business.

Management has reached the conclusion that there is a need to present its point of view, and more importantly to address any perceived shortcomings regarding payments to affiliates genuinely impacted by the Grand Privé Affiliates closure.

The company has therefore decided to make the following factual disclosures:

For purely commercial reasons, in August 2008 a decision to close Grand Privé effective 1 December 2008 was taken, and a communication exercise aimed at affiliates commenced.

This was followed by payment to all affiliates of all amounts owed.

The termination was, in Management’s opinion, conducted according to the terms of Grand Privé’s contract with affiliates, and in addition to these Grand Privé also entered into mutually agreeable compensation settlements with all affiliates who at that time had players considered to be reasonably active.

Following these initiatives, Management has not become aware of one single affiliate claim for compensation being submitted directly to Grand Privé, despite a rising noise level on the Internet.

Nevertheless, the company is prepared to concede that certain smaller and relatively inactive affiliate accounts may feel prejudiced by the closure, and acknowledges that this needs to be addressed with both an apology and a fair and reasonable financial settlement.

Moving forward from this factual base, Grand Privé proposes to address both reputational and payment issues in a transparent and forthright manner as follows:

By commissioning the independent, fully qualified and professional auditing services of eCOGRA to investigate the circumstances surrounding the Grand Privé Affiliates closure both within and without the company and issue a public report;

eCOGRA will additionally facilitate the submission of claims by any affiliate that considers an amount to be owing by the Grand Privé Affiliate program as a result of player wagering activity subsequent to 1 December 2008; and

Perform a full and professional review of the program software and data to confirm amounts owing to claimants at 21 December 2009.

Grand Privé will cooperate whole-heartedly with this process, and has asked eCOGRA to involve all leading affiliate watchdog organisations in informing affiliates of their opportunity to submit legitimate claims.

We have agreed on eCOGRA’s insistence that we will be bound by its findings and recommendations arising from the investigation, remaining at arm’s length from the enquiry unless asked for pertinent information.

Grand Privé wishes to emphasise that its primary concern is to address any genuine wrongs in a fair and forthright manner, and it will lend every effort in order to do this.

About Grand Privé

The Grand Privé casinos have been in operation for more than a decade and are well established members of the online gaming community. The casino software is powered by Microgaming, a well known and respected software provider.

The following brands fall under the Grand Privé umbrella:

• Casino Grand Bay
• Jupiter Club
• Bella Vegas
• Lake Palace
• Road House Reels

Safety and security are our top priorities and we are committed to providing a secure and reliable environment to our players.