There are fewer underground casinos
As a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation recently stated, the country has seen a significant reduction in the number of cases of underground casinos being closed and their organizers being detained. The illegal gambling industry flourished after 2009, when the country seriously restricted access to casinos. Let us recall that today only a few establishments are allowed to operate legally, located in special gambling zones in different regions of the country.
The report of the representative of the Prosecutor General's Office noted that in 2009, about 15,000 cases of organizing illegal gambling were recorded, and in 2019, their number decreased almost 15 times. By the way, the priorities of representatives of the illegal gambling business have changed. Today, most violations occur in the online gambling segment. It is enough to pay attention to the huge number of fake establishments that do not have and will never have a license. However, there are also enough official online establishments in RuNet. In this regard, it is worth recalling that it is impossible to open licensed online casinos on the territory of the Russian Federation, therefore, all legal gaming platforms fall under the jurisdiction of other countries.
Last year, more than 800 cases of organizing underground gambling halls were brought to court. More than half of them resulted in convictions. If you look at the overall statistics, then between 2009 and 2015, about 75 thousand underground casinos and gambling halls were closed. Until 2016, organizing illegal gambling was subject to administrative liability in the form of fairly modest fines. Today, the fine can be a very impressive sum of up to 1 million rubles. In case of repeated violation of the law, the organizers can be convicted and receive from one to six years of imprisonment.
There is no talk of legalizing online gambling in the Russian Federation yet, but it is very likely that some changes can be expected in this direction in the future. Today, the state treasury is losing very significant funds, which continue to flow into the pockets of fraudsters and into the accounts of foreign licensed clubs.
