State actors involved in setting up gambling apparatuses

[alegotardo]

For instance, we have no idea which people run the majority of crypto casinos. It certainly isn't the lawyer setting them up offices in his name in Cyprus that is the sole benefactor. He's just a rubber stamped front man. But who really runs these casinos? Until proven otherwise it could very well be DPRK state actors, Kremlin cronies and whatnot.

Since it's such a profitable business, but now requires high capital input to get started, it's not unlikely that some shadow state apparatus has been involved setting up casinos. It could be a very good tool to evade sanctions too.

This makes sense because the crypto ecosystem linked to casinos is an excellent opportunity for people to move money out of the traditional financial system and use it for money laundering to avoid fund tracking and sanctions. OFAC has already described concrete cases of Russian exchanges and networks used for illicit acts, but even so, I do not think it is right to go from "it is possible" to "it certainly happens".

I think most regulated and reputable casinos are controlled by legitimate and authentic businessmen or investment funds... nowadays money generates money, and there are many people with a lot of money wanting to diversify their investments..... gambling is a good opportunity for that. But in fact, it is difficult to confirm this.

[fullfitlarry]

What's surprising about this? In my country, only wealthy people, high-ranking officials, and even those with high ranks in the secret services can afford to own a gambling business. Everyone else is simply barred from this business. And even if some ordinary person manages to do so, the FSB will soon come and brazenly take it away. This has happened more than once, and it happens all the time. What can we say about casinos when they're taking over large companies with billions in turnover?

And perhaps this could be one reason that many gambling went underground? However, if they did then they will have to go and pay the police so that they wouldn't raid their gambling dens.

So there could be possibility that gambling has been used as just a smoke screen by some state entities in the online gambling world. There is no face involved, and just a lot of money to show and get a license, hire someone for the servers and development of the game. And in just matter of months they can operate without anyone of us playing on a casino that might have been operated by North Koreans.

[stadus]

That’s very possible, but it honestly doesn’t come to my mind because I’m already very limited to just looking at the games themselves and trying to figure out whether a game is beatable or if there’s a way to win.

Whatever they are doing, legal or illegal, as long as the casino pays when I win and is able to maintain a good reputation, that’s really all I care about. What you mentioned is already the job of regulators or authorities, to find out who the people behind the company really are.

I just want to keep it simple, man. Things like that are already too complicated for me.

[famososMuertos]

OP; They say around here that’s an old story… the only difference now is that there’s a “new” niche: crypto casinos.

That’s why they’re investigated so much. Generally, behind casinos are real businesspeople, investment funds, governments, and of course, the shady elements, and among those mentioned, many fall into corrupt practices, to say the least... if not something worse.

[Fortify]

I had this idea the other day,

Since crypto gambling is something so highly sought after, and especially given that a gambling business can be set up anonymously, what tells us that state actors aren't in the game?

For instance, we have no idea which people run the majority of crypto casinos. It certainly isn't the lawyer setting them up offices in his name in Cyprus that is the sole benefactor. He's just a rubber stamped front man. But who really runs these casinos? Until proven otherwise it could very well be DPRK state actors, Kremlin cronies and whatnot.

Since it's such a profitable business, but now requires high capital input to get started, it's not unlikely that some shadow state apparatus has been involved setting up casinos. It could be a very good tool to evade sanctions too.

It is very hard to identify the real owners of many crypto casinos, but once you reach a certain size and want to start doing things like advertising with Premier League clubs, then you usually have to expose the owner via contracts, because they have to do a certain level of vetting too. However there are plenty of sites which fly under this threshold yet are still making a lot of money. This is one of the biggest risks to the crypto industry, if lots of research highlights the fact it is being used by regimes like Russia, Iran or North Korea there is a chance it might be outlawed in places like Europe - so it is not possible to use to fund their enemies. There may also be pressure on these offshore licensing countries to expose owners as well, if they want favorable trade agreements with the biggest countries.

[EluguHcman]

I had this idea the other day,

Since crypto gambling is something so highly sought after, and especially given that a gambling business can be set up anonymously, what tells us that state actors aren't in the game?

Also get it to sink in your head that it has truly been that the crypto casino is an open source for financial or investment infrastructure that is liable for anyone to venture in.
Perhaps owning a crypto might seem easy as those eligible who have the to pay their taxes to the appropriate bodies like the authorities.

Some are also completely Decentralized and are not lawfully taxed by not registering or operating under licence.
The gambling industry has also become so competitive that it requires owners to develop strong marketing strategies to standout making profits and we know already that the states actors with their firms is an advantage for them to be successful following how they have studied the markets and their official backups too.

[red4slash]

I think it is possible for this to happen even in my country even though currently gambling is still illegal but there are some powerful people in the government who are associated with gambling and become protectors when some of them try to eradicate this so what are you saying when there are important people including actors doing that then I will not be surprised.

Gambling today still has a bad stigma in some cases as well as some countries that consider this illegal but it cannot be denied that this is a business that will be very profitable for them so I don't really doubt when there are tons of people including those who have a big following being a part of it even though some are doing it obviously and some are just shadows to be behind the scenes.

[Kelward]

Gambling business is not for everybody, you need to have a lot of money and in most cases you also need connections because if you don't and something happens your casino can be easily sanctioned or shutdown. My best guess is that for a big casino to survive if it's not owned by an influential person like a politician they need some influential and political affiliates for protection. I believe that any country that bans casino business aside from religious reasons it means that the high and mighty are not directly or indirectly involved. In very big industries like oil and gas you should expect top politicians involvements so the gambling industry that is very big as it is now with skepticism from some parts of the public must have influential owners and partners.

[Cointxz]

I will not be surprised if this is true because in my country a high government official sold their resort to Chinese group that later turned it to POGO(Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator).

We all know that the transition of resort to casino is a cover up business since this Chinese group was protected by this government official while other POGO on different location was being cracked down.

Some corrupt government officials using foreign companies to operate online casino and just get their cut through anonymous procedures.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2016250/remulla-padlocks-pogo-hub-in-cavites-island-cove

The news attached shown they padlock already the hub but the one who padlock it the alleged owner before the chinese takeover.

What OP stating is actually what happening on our country bro. Haha too many illegal sites are being wandered for a while Im sure the POGOs involved last time got like connection and some protection by the govt. Theres some evidence on this but since the one whose protecting is quite strong ofcourse this will take time to bust.

I like his standard when it comes torm drugs and security of the people maybe nobody is perfect and he got some crocodile advisors before for this gambling issues that are illegal.

Our country is always a perfect example for a textbook corruption on every aspect of our economy including gambling industry. I also can’t forgot those lotto winner that winning almost everyday and has same person claiming prize multiple times on a short period of time.

There’s no further investigation happened and this show how crooked the current government.

Even on exchange and other licensing our government is still has red tape.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Gambling business is not for everybody, you need to have a lot of money and in most cases you also need connections because if you don't and something happens your casino can be easily sanctioned or shutdown. My best guess is that for a big casino to survive if it's not owned by an influential person like a politician they need some influential and political affiliates for protection. I believe that any country that bans casino business aside from religious reasons it means that the high and mighty are not directly or indirectly involved. In very big industries like oil and gas you should expect top politicians involvements so the gambling industry that is very big as it is now with skepticism from some parts of the public must have influential owners and partners.

You have a very good point bud and I agree with you, I don't know about other countries but here in my country, I've often seen big business men who join politics not because they any interest to serve the people but simply as a way and means to protect their business, they know that through their affiliation in politics, they are going to meet and connect with high and influential people who they can become friends with, and this people can held shield him and his business in times of any form of trial.

But I would say that money is to top requirement to start a casino business, forget connection from the start because that can always come later so long as there is money. To start a big casino business, simply have a lot of money, and while running the business, start working on connecting with people that matters in the society.

[cryptoaddictchie]

Our country is always a perfect example for a textbook corruption on every aspect of our economy including gambling industry. I also can’t forgot those lotto winner that winning almost everyday and has same person claiming prize multiple times on a short period of time.

There’s no further investigation happened and this show how crooked the current government.

Even on exchange and other licensing our government is still has red tape.

Textbook corruption is the perfect termed when Philippines got involved. Ow those lotto winners some says theres a winner on those but with the mindset of ours that winners should be hide for safety seems like more dangerous of being stolen cause no one can verify the identity of the winner if theres one.

They should adopt other countries doing and has full transparency over this stuff. The problem wih the investigating buddy is their also psrt of the bigger group of scammers. Kek.

[Rubuchi]

What's surprising about this? In my country, only wealthy people, high-ranking officials, and even those with high ranks in the secret services can afford to own a gambling business. Everyone else is simply barred from this business. And even if some ordinary person manages to do so, the FSB will soon come and brazenly take it away. This has happened more than once, and it happens all the time. What can we say about casinos when they're taking over large companies with billions in turnover?

you are right. The casino business is not some kinds of random business you just go and establish, I don’t think any upcoming business person have been able to properly set a casino in my country too and that’s even why it is a bit unpopular here because you can’t find it established by an upcoming and even the bigwigs it still depends on their area of interest . When you are not interested in a particular nature of business you are interested in going into. Casino businesses are highly profitable to the bookmakers but it is also capital intensive and you need the right set of people to manage the business else it may just end up as a charity organization where people come play manipulate in their own ways and win big.

[sompitonov]

Textbook corruption is the perfect termed when Philippines got involved. Ow those lotto winners some says theres a winner on those but with the mindset of ours that winners should be hide for safety seems like more dangerous of being stolen cause no one can verify the identity of the winner if theres one.

They should adopt other countries doing and has full transparency over this stuff. The problem wih the investigating buddy is their also psrt of the bigger group of scammers. Kek.

Everything secret will eventually come to light, maybe not now, but eventually, almost all the schemes will be known and public. Then people and players will see it, but it will be too late; no one will refund their lost bets. I think even today there are plenty of various betting and influence schemes using various powerful connections or opaque game structures that many players are unaware of. Because players simply want to win here and now, without thinking about anything else.

[maydna]

That could be anyone popular who owns crypto gambling as they can hiding themselves behind the scene and command their trust teams to manage it. Those popular people still running their daily routine as usual without worry if the government knows that they are actually the owner of crypto gambling.

I guess that happens since crypto becomes more popular especially those popular people have a lot of money to start. It is like they invest in crypto gambling and they just wait for the profit enters to their wallets.

Public don't know anything but they will still playing gambling on their favorite crypto casinos.

[alani123]

I will not be surprised if this is true because in my country a high government official sold their resort to Chinese group that later turned it to POGO(Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator).

We all know that the transition of resort to casino is a cover up business since this Chinese group was protected by this government official while other POGO on different location was being cracked down.

Some corrupt government officials using foreign companies to operate online casino and just get their cut through anonymous procedures.

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/2016250/remulla-padlocks-pogo-hub-in-cavites-island-cove

The news attached shown they padlock already the hub but the one who padlock it the alleged owner before the chinese takeover.

Oh state licensing is a whole other topic worth discussing.
Politicians will gladly give licdnses to their friendly criminals that know they will support them in the future to run their campaigns with extraordinary over the top spending.

So if a criminal becomes buddy buddy with the government it's possible that their casino becomes actually legal. Of you look at most casino licenses in Europe you'll see that even the licensed ones are run through shell companies and nobody knows who the real owners are.

[danherbias07]

Yep, that's possible.

Well, despite that, many gamblers are using them. It's the privacy that they want, and it's been a long debate again, whether that's what we will talk about, just like how it goes with the Bitcoin technology. Anyway, there have been many projects in the ICO days where they used people as the face of their business. Some developers just want to stay anonymous, or they don't want to be the one questioned by the media or the people, because they lack the power of conversation.

Still, I believe they should float so that gamblers will know if they can be trusted or not. It will add to their reputation and more new customers.

[junder]

The number of gambling advertisements currently scattered makes the rise of online gambling much in demand, I have seen several gambling advertisements promoted by state actors who in hindsight actually he did not definitely do it, the conclusion I got the ad was made by Ai.
 
But even so, it does not rule out the possibility that actors or big people can be involved with casinos, because it is profitable so maybe there are indeed those out there who are involved with casinos.

[Taskford]

I think it is possible for this to happen even in my country even though currently gambling is still illegal but there are some powerful people in the government who are associated with gambling and become protectors when some of them try to eradicate this so what are you saying when there are important people including actors doing that then I will not be surprised.

Gambling today still has a bad stigma in some cases as well as some countries that consider this illegal but it cannot be denied that this is a business that will be very profitable for them so I don't really doubt when there are tons of people including those who have a big following being a part of it even though some are doing it obviously and some are just shadows to be behind the scenes.

Money can manipulate those corrupt official, so don't get surprise about those situation since if those casino owners could pay the government for protection they can continue operate. This is the power of money and that's the reason why you see those operators continue to operate despite of having an illegal stance towards those platforms.

Gambling is spreading and if government don't do anything it can hit bad on the society. Then as a result there are so many people got affected badly because those officials didn't care about their people.

[coinrifft]

Textbook corruption is the perfect termed when Philippines got involved. Ow those lotto winners some says theres a winner on those but with the mindset of ours that winners should be hide for safety seems like more dangerous of being stolen cause no one can verify the identity of the winner if theres one.

They should adopt other countries doing and has full transparency over this stuff. The problem wih the investigating buddy is their also psrt of the bigger group of scammers. Kek.

Everything secret will eventually come to light, maybe not now, but eventually, almost all the schemes will be known and public. Then people and players will see it, but it will be too late; no one will refund their lost bets. I think even today there are plenty of various betting and influence schemes using various powerful connections or opaque game structures that many players are unaware of. Because players simply want to win here and now, without thinking about anything else.

It's true but in our country it's totally different, even with corruption is exposed and all personalities name, there is no justice as they are in the position of power. And if there will be someone that is going to suffer, it's the small fish, the bigger one is out or there could be just one sacrificial lamb.

Just like what @cryptoaddictchie, we really don't know if there is a winner in lotto, specially if the amount is so huge. There could be chance that there could be inside job amongst those entities that they can orchestrate something that it will look like someone won, but in the end, it's all the officers who will divide that huge money between themselves.

[Somegory]

I have seen this happened in a Korea movie but I never knew it can happen in real life, those guys are running few casinos out of their country )Korea) in another foreign country to hide their crimes.

The law agents are unable to crush them because one way or another they always get money to come back in business, it was an inside job that lead to their arrest, someone had to betray them from the inside.

It was no one man's operation, few powerful people in the country are running the operation together and it got them alott of money and they use the foreign casinos to keep their illegal money, it's crazy that similar thing happens in real life too.