Raid on illegal online gambling: €82 million in assets frozen
Frankfurt prosecutor's office dismantles ring with nearly €6 billion in bets. Main suspect in custody; several luxury vehicles seized.
Frankfurt large-scale raid dismantles illegal online gambling ring with billion-euro turnover
Nearly six billion euros in bets between July 2021 and late 2023: investigators have dismantled an illegal online gambling ring of enormous scale after three years of undercover work. As BILD reports, more than 100 officers acting on behalf of the Frankfurt prosecutor's office searched eleven locations and executed an arrest warrant.
Five suspects are the focus of the investigation. They are alleged to have continuously offered gambling via the internet since at least July 2021 – without the required authorisation in Germany. The prosecutor's office accuses the suspects of operating illegal online gambling on a commercial basis as a criminal group. "The suspects are individuals of different nationalities, including German citizens," explained a spokesman for the Frankfurt am Main prosecutor's office to BILD.
In addition to illegal gambling, the suspects are alleged to have failed to remit or only partially remitted due taxes. For 2024 alone, investigators have calculated the tax damage at approximately €77.6 million.
The searches concentrated on Frankfurt am Main and the Rhine-Main region. In addition to the prosecutor's office, a tax investigation unit of the tax office, the State Office for Combating Financial Crime in North Rhine-Westphalia, and the Frankfurt am Main police headquarters participated in the cross-regional investigation commission.
The authorities froze assets worth approximately €82 million, seized various accounts, and confiscated several expensive vehicles. The arrest warrant against the main suspect had been issued by the Frankfurt am Main district court; it was executed on Monday. The man has been in investigative custody since then.
Source: BILD