Joint Police Action Hammers Online Gambling Ring – November 19th, 2009
A joint police action against electronic gambling in Greece and Cyprus has resulted in the arrest of a 44-year-old Athenian man and a continuing manhunt for a second accused, reports the Cyprus Mail newspaper.
“The operation constitutes a breakdown of a large electronic gambling network. The discovery of the case started from Cyprus and police officers from Cyprus went to Greece to participate in the investigations,” Justice Minister Loucas Louca revealed.
Late last week Cypriot and Greek police officers searched hundreds of establishments in Greece, following information that an electronic gambling network operating from there was offering online gambling services to hundreds of establishments in both countries.
“The presence of a central server was discovered a year ago and the investigation has lead to yesterday’s operation in Greece,” said police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos. Two central servers were discovered in Athens, one found in a private home and the second in the office of a telecommunications company.
The man arrested in Greece is believed to have been the server’s owner, and was the legal adviser of the company where the server in question was found. The server was used to transmit electronic gambling services to 300 establishments in Cyprus and hundreds more in Greece. Katsounotos yesterday confirmed that Cyprus Police intend to ask for the extradition of the Greek suspect, so that he faces a Cypriot court.
According to the police investigators, an examination of the confiscated serves found in Greece will help police track down the specific establishments in Cyprus that offered illegal gambling services as part of this network.
Police also estimated that the heads of the illegal electronic gambling network made millions in daily profits The second suspect is still being sought in Greece, and is believed to have provided technical support for the operation.
Police believe the bust represents a hit on one of the largest online gambling networks they have yet encountered in the region.
