Judge Stefano Montoneri of the Court of Catania, at the conclusion of the hearing which was held on 9 April, ordered the indictment of 40 of the 81 defendants investigated as part of the operation called "Double play" and conducted on March 3, 2021
The blitz was aimed at attacking the interests of the Santapaola-Ercolano clan in illegal online gaming. The 81 suspects were accused of being part of a mafia-style criminal association and involved in various capacities in the exercise of "remote gaming and betting, playing by circumventing national sector, tax and anti-money laundering regulations, as well as that on capital prevention measures, also through the fictitious registration of assets and companies in Sicily, Puglia and other areas of the national territory".
The betting network saw the use of 30 skins and 788 betting domains deemed illegal.
The tour would have been made possible by “capillary marketing” of gaming sites and from the administration of "betting agencies and data transmission centers located in the province of Catania".
The proceeds from the illicit activities would have favored money laundering, which would have been transported to Italy and abroad, i.e Germany, Malta, Poland and Montenegro.
The "turnover" at the time of the operation was estimated by investigators at over 80 million euros, a total sum for which three years ago a seizure of assets was also carried out. These are financial availability of 62 million in Italy, Poland and Malta; buildings and land in Puglia and Emilia-Romagna; and a catering company in Germany.
According to the investigators, the leaders, promoters and organizers of the commercial network also operated in a manner that was functional to the economic interests of the mafia-type association, exploiting the control of the territory by a criminal association and the consequent widespread marketing of online gaming sites (.com). The defendants would have covered various roles, also dealing with the commercial and promotional part of the sites, as well as the technical-administrative aspects of the organisation. Others would have in fact operated in the collection of cash deriving from bets and transported it to Italy as well as Germany, Malta, Poland and Montenegro with vehicles set up in such a way as to evade anti-money laundering legislation.
Among the defendants there are also owners of authorized betting shops who allegedly collected bets under the table. The defendants also include owners of softerhouses who provided the platforms to the .com sites.
The investigators reconstructed the control and coordination network of the opening operations of new betting centers and the dissemination of the site throughout the territory, issuing orders and directives to the network of subjects (agents, commercial, sub-commercial and presenters) in various capacities who are members of the network and pyramidal structure for the local management of the association's illicit activities and the collection of cash.
Among the defendants also some 'masters', i.e. heads of agencies present in a specific area for a specific betting site. In the network of betting collection points there are also some CTDs connected to bookmakers authorized to operate in the Maltese territory and with a regular licence. The betting centers that were opened used skins and carried out activities of granting credit and collecting 'over the counter' bets for several over 31 million euros.
The judge ordered the prosecution of the defendants before the Court of Catania and set the hearing for January 9, 2025.
