It has recently been reported that Russian attorneys have not stopped going after the former lawyer Alexander Ignatenko, who was allegedly involved in illegal gambling. According to local media, investigators in the Ignatenko case gave themselves time until November 28 to complete their probe into Moscow’s former deputy prosecutor.
Ignatenko’s investigation began back in 2011 in Moscow and the area, where a number of casinos were found out to have been operating illegally. The casinos were owned by Ivan Nazarov. After they were ‘cracked’, Alexander Ignatenko fled from the country in May the same year.
He went to Poland and Russian authorities took him back to his home country in January 2012. In July 2013, he was released from custody, as his trial was not likely to take place anytime soon.
Furthermore, authorities in Rostov-on-Don have accused the previous director of Russian gambling company Bingo Boom of being involved in illegal gambling businesses between 2011 and 2013.
Igor Talagayev was granted a license to provide Russian residents with national jackpot loto back in June 2011. Yet, it was found out that apart from that, he acquired $12 million from offering illegal betting and other gambling options.
For the past five years, the Russian Government has limited the gambling operations under its jurisdiction to only five gambling zones, including its newest territory Crimea. Any company that was found to maintain gambling operations outside these designated areas was taken to court and had its operations shut down.
According to the latest report released by the Russian Government, more than 70,000 facilities were shuttered and close to a million gambling machines and other equipment pieces were confiscated. The combined fines for those illegal operators totaled more than $17 million, but only 17% of these have been collected so far.
The stringent measures that Russian authorities took against illegal gambling activities might have become the main reason for Finnish slot machine monopolist RAY’s decision to say “no” to the prospect of opening a casino not far from Finland’s border with Russia.
Previously, RAY had planned to establish a new gambling venue in Virolahti – the busiest Russia-Finland border crossing.
Velipekka Nummikosk, the company’s managing director, refused to provide any additional details on the exact cause for their decision. He only commented that the project was ceased due to “delays and related uncertainty”.
