Kazakhstan’s financial regulators have broken up yet another illegal online gambling ring, and this must have been pretty big, in my view, judging by what they uncovered.
The Financial Monitoring Agency in Almaty led the investigation of 1Win’s illegal activities in Kazakhstan. According to the authorities, those involved set up a chain of businesses under proxy names to hide the real organizers from the betting activities.
Players could have gambled through the website on as many as 11,000 different gambling options, including casino games, sports, and esports betting, according to the allegations. The use of bank cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency for payment transactions not only allowed the transfer of large sums of money but also made it very difficult for the regulators to gain control over the situation.
High-End Assets and Seized Funds
The masterminds, who are reported to be on the international wanted list, got a judge’s order for their detention in absentia and the seizure of property believed to be related to the operation. The organizers might have run a very big operation judging from the list of the seized property.
Authorities seized a Mercedes Maybach S500, a Lamborghini Huracan, and a Toyota Land Cruiser. They also confiscated 151 million tenge in cash and smaller amounts in U.S. dollars and euros. The digital currencies linked to the suspects were frozen as part of the investigation.
The authorities claim that out of the confiscated assets, more than 420 million tenge have been handed over to the state while the investigation continues. Although asset seizures generally make news, they mostly reveal only a small part of the total money involved in such cases when, together with the use of digital currencies and complicated payment networks, a large amount of money is transferred illegally.
This incident has been accompanied by mounting concerns over the underground online gambling market in Kazakhstan.
Previous news stories have indicated that some illegal online casino networks might have seen over 600 billion tenge flowing through them in the country. It is said that some of these establishments operated by utilizing gray payment terminals, making fake agreements with bookmakers, and organizing payment systems. Moreover, in some cases, cryptocurrency transactions were rumored to have amounted to a few hundred million dollars.
A typical characteristic of many such schemes is their reliance on structure. They depend on shell companies, third-party registrations, and various payment channels. Occasionally, there is even a cross-border setting involved.
Going by the glimpses of the gambling market, Kazakhstan has adopted stringent measures and allowed only licensed operators and certain zones to carry out activities. But the discoveries made by these investigators indicate that the online gambling sites are doing their operations quite differently. They rapidly increase the scale of their operations, digitalize the flow of money, and if they are well-organized, they can continue their illegal activities even for several years before being closed down. The fresh incidents of law enforcement seizing illegal goods send a very strong message. Whether such actions would considerably affect the overall underground gambling market, time will tell.
