Slovak Authorities Raid Gambling Facilities, Seize Machines in Huge Anti-Illegal Gambling Operation

Slovakia’s Financial Administration has seized lots of quiz and gambling machines in what turned out to be the largest illegal gambling operation to have been carried out in the nation in the last several decades.

Local news outlet The Slovak Spectator reported earlier today that after several raids across the nation, the Financial Administration seized late last month five apparatus of this quiz machine kind and 75 gambling machines. The operation was carried out over two weeks, June 28-29, and was part of the Slovak government’s ongoing effort to combat illegal gambling.

More than 180 comptrollers and custom officers raided over 100 gambling facilities across the nation late last month to detect any violations of the country ’s new gambling law which took effect early in 2018.

The Financial Administration has said in a media release that the raids first entailed officers trying the machines and whether they were used for gambling. In some of the facilities, gambling machines have been discovered to have been turned off, while others the machines were not connected to the online or were away from the grid.

Some of the raided facilities were subsequently sealed and officials are expected to conduct additional inspections in those.

The confiscated quiz machines have been sent to the Technical Testing Institute where specialists could determine whether these were used for gambling purposes. Financial Administration President František Imrecze has previously pointed out that gaming machines really represent a form of gambling.

Gambling Fines

The Slovak Spectator further reported that the amount of fines levied on erring suppliers of gambling services has improved appreciably over the past several decades. According to statistics presented by the TASR newswire, as many as 210 fines were slapped on such suppliers in 2017, together with those being worth nearly €380,000.

As for the figures levied, these increased 3.75percent from 2016 and 184% from 2015.

But she went on to say, the authorities should realize that illegal gambling was the result from overregulation of the local business .

News emerged last month which Bratislava’s complete gambling ban which was adopted last spring proved to be overturned from the funding ’s Regional Court. Early last year, the City Council approved a ban on the supply of gambling services across the city which required the close of casinos and gambling halls.

Properties were expected to shut when their licenses expired, together with the last such licenses slated to expire in 2021. However, the Regional Court ruled last month that the prohibition was running afoul of the nation ’s gambling legislation. As many as 50 places were closed in the period between April 2017, once the ban was enforced, and the announcement of the court’therefore judgment.