Largest Russian Microgaming online casino raided by police

[splinterfree]

Interior Ministry Police Forces closed down the largest online casino in Russia. The official representative of the Ministry, Ms. Larisa Zhukova, told RIA News that the casino's estimated daily profits were around 200,000 rubles ($7,000 US). Ms. Zhukova disclosed that the yet unnamed owner, 33 years of age, as well as five employees of the online casino were all taken into custody.

....

The Ministry spokesperson went on to add that the casino was set up ten years ago using foreign made online casino technology, yet the administration was carried out on Russian territory, which is forbidden by the current Russian gambling laws. “Anyone who bet just 50 rubles automatically became a member. The online casino offered a wide selection of gambling options including online slot machines, roulette, virtual blackjack tables, and poker - over 470 games in total,” Ms. Zhukova announced.

The casino was not named in the official report, but based on the fact that the only software with 470 games is Microgaming, the casino in question is probably Goldfishka. The casino's site is still working (probably because its hosted outside of Russia) but their partner program is down. (http://www.goldfishkapartners.com/ )
Players have also reported no response from customer support and no withdrawals processed.

Read full story on Biggest Russian Microgaming Casino Exposed in Police Raid

[brean78]

Should have stuck this in industry news. First I have heard of Russian Police targeting online operations.

[splinterfree]

get a mod to move the thread

the reason why you've never heard of it is because its the first such incident

[giggles7p]

I beg to differ. Russia has been cracking down big time on landbased casinos and online gaming sites. They passed a law a few months back that made gambling of any sort completely illegal except for in 4 areas. All other places including online are forbidden and they have been making numerous arrests and seizures. They also arrested Moscow's prosecutor and deputy prosecutor recently for protecting and being involved with the Russian Mafia and its gaming connections.

[MrDeposit]

Well with that being said, I have some news articles to write to inform my players of this.

[LazyRiver]

Bad news for sure, but on the other hand: who the hell runs a successful online casino out of the territory which is an all-out war against gambling ??? You could probably get away with an aff site hosted abroad, but money-making casino is a different story... For sure they have good lawyer onboard but I am afraid they can do jack in Russia...

[alexpratt]

Link doesn't seem to work anymore - Anyone else have another news source

[MrDeposit]

Link doesn't seem to work anymore - Anyone else have another news source

Click the link then click on "News" you will see the title in the list to click.

[pokerbanter]

another one bites tyhe dust

[Anthony]

Why would they keep $1,000,000 cash in the office?

[RobSmith]

Bad news for sure, but on the other hand: who the hell runs a successful online casino out of the territory which is an all-out war against gambling ??? You could probably get away with an aff site hosted abroad, but money-making casino is a different story... For sure they have good lawyer onboard but I am afraid they can do jack in Russia...

.

Is the Russian state running casinos then? Many countries just want a state-run operation and all others are cut out of the profits (Canada as an example).

[pgaming]

Canada welcomes competition with offshore online gambling operations. And wouldn't they? because they know censoring/policing the web is not exactly freedom.

greek39

[AE-Martyn]

Why would they keep $1,000,000 cash in the office?

- Petty cash?
- Office Vodka supplies?
- Pay off the dibble when they come a knocking?

[ocreditor]

Well it sounds like the operators were taking some pretty insane risks given where they're located. 5 years in the slammer...not nice.