Three hundred police and tax authorities raided 37 homes in Israel earlier this week and arrested dozens of people suspected of being involved in organized gambling and other criminal activities that includes extortion, money laundering and property theft. The raid was handled together with the police’s Lahav 433 unit, the Money Laundering Prohibition Authority, the Tax Authority investigators as well as State Prosecutors after a lengthy undercover investigation.
Police described the gambling/crime ring as a “pirate sports gambling industry that has taken in more than NIS 340 million since 2007,” which equates to about $90 million dollars.
“Internet gambling is one of the severe crime phenomena among Israeli crime organizations,” added the source. “It brings with it other forms of serious crimes, like aggravated extortion, violence, money laundering, tax offenses, and theft of moneys from public funds.”
Many people participate in online gambling in Israel and are quite prepared to take the chance to gamble online despite the fact that it is illegal. Gambling sites that accept Israel nationals are also at risk of being prosecuted by the Israeli government.