Synchronized operations were deployed in Salta, Tucumán, and Buenos Aires.
Argentina.- An illegal virtual casino network was dismantled this Tuesday after a police operation that included 19 raids in Salta, Tucumán, and Buenos Aires. As a result, the Justice ordered the freezing of 253 bank accounts belonging to members of the illicit structure. Additionally, there is one person detained.
The investigation focuses on an unauthorized virtual betting network, involving recruiters of bettors on social networks and individuals acting as "cashiers" in different provinces.
Coordinated by the criminal prosecutor of the Unit of Complex Economic Crimes (UDEC), Ana Inés Salinas Odorisio, researchers from the Department of Investigations and Criminology of the Fiscal Investigations Corps (CIF) conducted fieldwork in several provinces and carried out telephone interventions on the suspects over a period of 15 days.
For 60 days, the figure of the "Digital Undercover Agent" was used in computer media and online games to simulate interest in "online casinos". This strategy provided the investigators with precise tools and data, allowing them to understand with a degree of certainty the operations of the suspects both in the city of Salta and in the interior of the country.
In addition to the nationwide raids, measures ordered by Salinas Odorisio include the immobilization of 253 bank accounts linked to the accused. Also requested, through the Secretariat of Modernization of Salta, was the blocking of all websites involved from the educational establishments of the province, where they operated. Likewise, a travel ban was requested for the eight main individuals involved in this criminal organization.
See also: Blow to illegal gambling in Buenos Aires City: more than 1800 pages blocked and 14 influencers notified by the Justice
From the Public Prosecutor's Office of Salta, it was specified that the raids in that province occurred on Florida Street at 300, in the center, and in the neighborhoods Juan Manuel de Rosas, Ciudad del Milagro, San Alfonso, Pablo Saravia, El Tribuno, La Silleta, Campo Santo, and El Carril. In these operations, one person was detained and marketing products, relevant documentation for the case, phones, records, and a Volkswagen Amarok van were seized.
The intervention of UDEC began following a complaint filed on November 3, 2023, by the Legal Advisor of the Regulatory Entity of Gambling (ENREJA), who reported that a woman was promoting, through mass media, her network of betting recruitment and sellers for an illegal virtual casino named BET91, Celuapuestas, and Red Las Únicas. These platforms operated without authorization, through the internet, and lacked any adaptation to the current legal regulations.
The complainant also alerted that this irregular activity was exacerbated by the complete omission of regulations related to the Program for the Prevention of Gambling Addiction and related state policies. He also pointed out the lack of compliance in key areas such as money laundering, tax payments, and activity control, covering fiscal, tax, financial responsibility of organized gambling, solvency, compliance with prize payments, fees, as well as the auditing of the random aspect of gambling games and regulations on the prevention of money laundering, among other aspects.
Following the complaint, prosecutor Salinas Odorisio assigned the UDEC Investigation Unit to investigate the case.
A structure was discovered in which individuals from other provinces recruited Salta citizens to act as "cashiers" for this online betting house. These "cashiers" were given a username and password to access an online gaming platform, operated through a fake NIC domain.
From the Public Prosecutor's Office of Salta, it was explained that the organization operates at different operational levels. Recruitment begins through direct recommendations or, in more recent versions, via social networks. Interested bettors contact the "cashiers", who manage the amount of credit load. After receiving the payment, which is made through platforms like Mercado Pago, the client obtains a username and password to access games like virtual slot machines.
