Restrictions on the gambling industry do not apply everywhere?
Representatives of official bookmakers operating in Tyumen said that there are no prohibitive laws against illegal gambling in the city. That is, the existing law on gambling is still as strict as before for official BCs and completely ignores underground casinos and totalizators.
On the city's official website (https://72.ru/) On June 19, an article describing the situation that angered representatives of legal BCs appeared. They report that law enforcement and supervisory authorities do not react in any way to the existing and constantly growing illegal gambling networks. Honest entrepreneurs work on the basis of 244 Federal Law regulating gambling business. At the same time, there are many underground BCs and casinos in the city, which conduct illegal activities. Thus, legal BCs in Tyumen operate with significant restrictions and requirements:
- it is forbidden to open offices in residential buildings;
- A separate room is required;
- obligatory tax payments to the budget, etc.
Illegal gambling establishments completely ignore the existing laws. They open not only in residential buildings, but even in children's, educational and medical institutions. Clandestine casinos masquerade as "harmless" entertainment complexes, where slot machines ("one-armed bandits") are openly displayed. The game for money in them is supposedly not conducted, but to run the machines, it is necessary to purchase a so-called promissory note or bond for real money. Sometimes such illegal halls hide under the signboard of a bookmaker's office.
Legal business representatives are sure that someone with serious powers is behind the underground casinos, otherwise 9 such gambling establishments in Tyumen and 2 in Tobolsk would not work so quietly. Several applications have already been sent to the regional Department of Internal Affairs with a request to stop the activities of illegal gambling, but in response they received replies such as "an inspection is being conducted, the results are not subject to disclosure". At the same time, underground casinos have been operating for several years! Representatives of legal BCs were forced to appeal to the media to draw attention to the problem, which is ignored by law enforcement agencies.
