The Gambling Network: The world of Illegal Online Casinos

The journalists started their investigation in Germany. With a population of over 80 million, it is the largest market for online gambling in the EU. Many of its citizens are wealthy by global standards, making German players a lucrative target for the international gambling industry. More than four million Germans suffer from gambling addiction or are at risk of becoming addicted, which poses a significant public health issue. Howeverd, given Germany's strict gambling laws, the question arose as to how this could be possible.

The team of journalists wanted to find out how the industry operates. What tricks does it use to circumvent player protection measures? How does the illegal market function? And what are national authorities across Europe doing about it?

Their research took them from Germany to Malta, home to many gambling companies. Undercover research at various gambling conferences revealed how the industry behaves when it thinks outsiders aren't listening. The team then followed the trail to Curaçao, which is considered a haven for the international gambling industry and its often dubious methods. In collaboration with 'Follow the Money', we examined the #Casinopapers, a substantial leak of thousands of internal documents from a network of illegal online casinos.

Key findings

• The operators of illegal online casinos often hide behind shell companies around the world.
• They use mirror sites (alternative URLs) to bypass blocking measures imposed by European authorities.
• Payments to illegal online casinos are channelled through third parties to hide the origin and destination of money transfers.
• Not only do industry representatives seem to be aware of national laws designed to protect people at risk of gambling addiction, they are also often willing to circumvent them.
• Search engines and social media platforms are manipulated to promote online gambling sites. These techniques are promoted by industry representatives at industry events.
• German authorities struggle to enforce strict national gambling regulations. Illegal online casinos continue to profit from German gamblers. Prosecutors have to drop investigations because they cannot identify those behind illegal online casinos.
• Until at least 2023, a network of illegal online casinos in Germany was controlled by a Bulgarian company through shell companies in Malta and the Caribbean.
• In recent years, a gambling licence from the remote African island of Anjouan has gained popularity. There is little oversight from the authorities.

Photo credit: Nikolai Atefie