Maltese gaming authority and Italian Guardia di Finanza to sign cooperation agreement

The agreement aims for the full exchange of information for the purposes of detecting illegal gaming activity

The Malta Gaming Authority and Italian Guardia di Finanza are to sign an agreement for cooperation in illegal gaming investigations
The Malta Gaming Authority and Italian Guardia di Finanza are to sign an agreement for cooperation in illegal gaming investigations

The Malta Gaming Authority is entering into an agreement with Italy’s Guardia di Finanza for the exchange of information in investigations on illegal gaming activity.

The Maltese and Italian authorities will be cooperating in the analysis of information for the purpose of detecting such illicit activity, with the agreement set to be signed in the coming days.

This was announced in Parliament today by financial services parliamentary secretary Silvio Schembri, hours after an Italian investigation into illegal betting, in which Malta cooperated, led to the arrest of 68 people and the seizure of over €1 billion in assets in Italy and elsewhere.

The investigation was led by the prosecutors of Bari, Reggio Calabria and Catania, and coordinated by the Italian National Anti-Mafia and Counter-Terrorism Directorate.

The volume of sports and other bets, discovered by the Guardia di Finanza and the police is worth over €4.5 billion, Rai News reported.

Around 80 search operations are also being carried out in various cities around Italy.

The investigation involved the collaboration of Eurojust, and the judicial authorities of Malta, as well as Austria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Netherland, Curacao, Serbia, Albania and Spain, which was fundamental for the tracing of the accumulated assets and the seizures.

Rai News said that the information which emerged shows that criminal groups have divided themselves, and are controlling, using mafia methods, the online clandestine betting market, using a variety of platforms managed by the same organisations.

The money accumulated illegally was then being reinvested in real estate assets and financial positions abroad, in the name of foundations and companies, all of which are shielded.