Gambling and mafia. Then and now
Organized criminal groups, just like legal businesses, primarily aim to make money. But, unlike regular commercial businesses, they don’t limit themselves to the boundaries of the law. Robbery, extortion, theft, trafficking in illicit goods, covering up shady businesses – all that is illegal and makes the mafia a handsome profit.
Up until recently, gambling also belonged to this category. It brought considerable profit to the underworld, especially sports betting. It was not uncommon for this sphere to bring in most of the mafia’s earnings. What has changed?
The problem and the solution
Many countries began to bring gambling out of the criminal sphere. By giving the opportunity to legally make money on gambling with opportunity to play at Fair Go casino login no deposit bonus codes, the regulatory authorities have seriously complicated the life of the mafia. Take Italy as an example: after the lifting of the law on gambling, over 20 years the spending of citizens on gambling has grown to $85 million. That’s about 5% of the budget revenue in taxes. A colossal sum! What is interesting, about half of this money was spent on slots, placed everywhere.
Going out for a bite to eat or spending time at the mall and spinning the drum a couple of times, what could be easier and more enjoyable? The number of slot machines in Italy is now even higher than in Nevada, the most slot-filled state in the US.
The consequences
Has this helped? Well, partially. Now it”s legal to gamble, it”s legal to run gambling businesses and casinos, but has this stopped the mafia? Not at all. The money laundering problem still persists. It”s even easier for criminals to set up a gambling company and use it to produce white money.
Despite the fact that gambling is now a legitimate business, criminal gangs have not stopped doing it. National anti-mafia agencies are claiming the opposite effect. When the money flow in the gambling industry increased dramatically, so did the profits of the mafia, but now in the legal field!
Moreover, the earnings from slot machines allowed the criminal formations to relocate from the traditional northern regions of Italy to the poorer southern ones. As a result, their actions are now even more damaging to an already stagnant economy. That’s how a sensible initiative turned out to have a bad result.