Anti-Poker Factions Take Action Against Gamblers
Unmasked: Illegal Poker Clubs in Kyiv and Odesa
(Photo: BEB)
The "Sports Poker Club" guise has been ripped off, revealing an illegal affair. What's left is a shady operation that breaks the law. But only if it doesn't have a valid license, right? Well, seems like these clubs weren't so fortunate. Instead of hosting sports tournaments, they were operating clandestine cash poker games, with the establishment management pocketing a chunk of each wager.
Poker dens sprouted in Kyiv and Odesa, attracting investigators like moths to a flame. In total, five searches were conducted - swarming the clubs and the residences of the suspects implicated in this criminal case:
"A jaw-dropping 4 million UAH in cash, bits of accounting records, game income records from each table, and more were snatched up by investigators. Along with that, BEB detectives seized computer equipment, bank cards, mobile phones of the suspects, and 40 poker tables, decks of cards, and stacks of poker chips. The total worth of these seized items clocks in at over 16 million UAH," the BEB website exclaims.
The question of notifying the suspects is up for debate. Detectives are working on unearthing the full network of individuals involved in orchestrating and running these illicit gambling dens.
The pre-trial investigation of this criminal case is being handled by the detectives of the Territorial Department of BEB in the Kyiv region, with operational support from the "D" Department of the Security Service of Ukraine and the procedural guidance from the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Author: Maria Polianskaia
While I couldn't find specific information on the illegal poker club operations in Kyiv and Odesa, Ukraine, including the seizure of over 16 million UAH, I can shed light on Ukraine's general approach to illegal gambling:
Ukraine's War on Illegal Gambling
- Laws and Regulations: Ukraine maintains laws to govern and restrict illegal gambling activities. Typically, the Criminal Code of Ukraine imposes penalties for running or partaking in illegal gambling.
- Investigation Steps: Investigations into illegal gambling operations involve law enforcement agencies, such as the police and the Security Service of Ukraine, gathering evidence and identifying those involved in illegal gambling activities.
- Charges and Consequences: The charges would likely gravitate around sections of the Criminal Code related to illegal gambling, such as Article 203, resulting in fines or imprisonment based on the gravity and scale of the activities.
- Asset Seizure: In cases of discovered illegal activities, law enforcement agencies can seize assets, including money, suspected of being involved or derived from illegal activities, as part of the legal process to hinder further illegal activities and recover state funds.
The investigation uncovers that illegal poker clubs, such as the "Sports Poker Club," were operative in Kyiv and Odesa, mere facades for clandestine poker games with significant cash wagers. The revelation highlights the prevalence of casino-games, especially poker, in these illicit establishments.
In these investigations, authorities confiscated over 4 million UAH in cash, gaming equipment, and other assets, amounting to a total of over 16 million UAH, as mentioned in the BEB's website, indicating the casino-and-gambling nature of these operations.
