A summer of tight controls to counter illegal gambling, a plague that often turns into a scam against the weakest bands: minors, elderly people and people already fragile for ludopathy problems. This is the balance of the activities put in place by the carabinieri in the municipalities of the Piana and the Aspromonte, where the phenomenon is still widespread and rooted.
Next to the military, the inspectors of the Customs and Monopolies Agency of Reggio Calabria, who together have sifted through numerous businesses in Seminara, Delianuova and Cosoleto. The checks revealed a well -tested system: tampered slot machines and disconnected from the state network to escape monitoring and guarantee illegal income to the managers.
The result was immediate: eight appliances seized, over 6,500 euros of confiscated takings and several operators reported to the Palmi prosecutor for computer fraud. A round of money stolen not only to the players, but also to the state coffers, who could not record the proceeds or collect the relative taxes.
On the administrative level, the sanctions already notified exceed 80,000 euros, a figure destined to rise after the more in -depth checks that the ADM is carrying out on the seized material.
The tampering of the electronic cards of the machines, in fact, is a practice that allows dishonest operators to circumvent safety systems and transform the premises into real black speakers, far from any control.
Behind the checks, in addition to the numbers, there is the goal of protecting the most vulnerable citizens and steming a phenomenon which, in addition to economic damage, causes serious social consequences.