Colombian Authorities Busted ‘Los Poker,’ an Illegal Online Gambling Ring
15 people running Los Poker, an illegal online gambling ring operating 62 websites with an estimated turnover of 3 billion pesos (roughly 867 thousand in US dollars) a month, were finally arrested after more than two years of investigation by the Villavicencio Metropolitan Police and the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
As reported by Fecoljuegos, The Colombian Federation of Luck and Chance Gaming Entrepreneurs, the ring acquired illegal online casino websites in Europe to be used in Colombia, as well as Peru and Ecuador. The latter two countries don’t even have a state regulator for online gambling activities. The organization was led by two men known as “Carlos” and “Juan Carlos.” They hired a Malta-based software development company specializing in online gambling to procure 62 websites for this purpose.
According to a statement by Colonel Clauder Antonio Cardona of the Villavicencio Metropolitan Police, “they camouflaged themselves with the pages of legal bets, those that are authorized by Coljuegos; they deceived you, you placed a bet, and they kept the received money out of the taxable amount that otherwise would have had to be paid.” All 15 arrested people were charged with “illicit enrichment, conspiracy to commit a crime and the illicit income monopoly on gambling.”
With a turnover of 3 billion pesos a month, as the Colombian authorities estimate, the ring avoided paying around 500 million pesos (around 144.5 thousand in US dollars) in taxes to the state budget. The legal online gambling industry in Colombia is a young one. The activity was legalized in 2016 with the piece of legislation dubbed the eGaming Act. The law permits a selected range of games of chance: roulette, blackjack, baccarat, bingo, sports betting, and poker, among others. As of now, there are only 16 online gambling websites authorized by the Colombian regulator, Coljuegos, to operate.
All in all, the online casino industry has shown exponential growth in the years prior to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2019, online gambling revenues skyrocketed by 83% compared to the year before – to an estimated 69.4 billion pesos (roughly $20.6 million). COVID-19 affected sports betting the most, which, according to Fecoljuegos, lost up to 90% of its revenue in 2020. Before the favorable legislation was passed in 2016, the online gambling industry was there, of course – but it had to exist outside of the frame of law. After the legal framework was established, however, the Colombian authorities went after the illegal online casinos, and they were not messing around. In 2019, in just one year, they managed to shut down some 2,000 illegal online casinos.
The consequences of running an illegal online gambling website are harsh: organizers face up to 8 years of jail time. But, since most of such websites are run internationally, some perpetrators manage to get away.
Colombian authorities’ decision to crack down on illegal online gambling is hardly a surprise. After all, licensed companies are required to bring 15% of their gross gaming revenue to the country’s budget in taxes. (This applies to all online casinos with the return to player equal or exceeding 83%.) With 3.9 million active user accounts, the licensed online casinos contributed more than 68 billion pesos (roughly $19.65 million) to the Colombian budget in 2019 alone.