Italian illegal gambling linked to Malta

The latest crack on illegal gambling in Italy revealed that those operations had roots in Malta.

Italy.- Italy’s latest raid on illegal venues has revealed one more time that the operations are somehow related to Malta’s online gambling industry. Italian media revealed an operation called Double Jack, which included several provinces in the territory.

The police operative was conducted across multiple Italian provinces, and 30 different properties suspected of being linked to illegal gambling operations, both land-based and online, were connected with computer terminals connected to online gambling servers based in Malta.

Authorities revealed that seven people were arrested under suspicions of being involved in an illegal online gaming operation that generated approximately US$12 million in revenue every month. Police raided 14 venues and bank accounts, and the total value collected reached US$10 million.

Prosecutors said that the raided properties were equipped with switches that let operators reset terminals to cut the connection with Malta in case something like this operative happened. Moreover, it was revealed that the software was manipulated to make sure that gamblers didn’t win too often.

Giuseppe Creazzo, chief prosecutor from Florence, said that the illegal operations had unspecified connections with Malta’s Medialice Casino Lts. The official also said that the operative was possible thanks to a Trojan software that was installed in the group’s digital networl. That Trojan allowed them to discover the illegal computer platform with which the game was controlled by Malta.

Nevertheless, thanks to a recent law approved in Italy, this operative was the last of its kind as authorities will not be allowed to empty software tools like Trojans to fight illegal activity. Creazzo also complained about the lack of cooperation from Maltese authorities.