Authorities in Agrigento shut down two clandestine betting collection centers and imposed administrative fines exceeding €20,000 ($22,796) during a coordinated crackdown on illegal gambling activities, Italian customs and gambling regulator ADM announced Friday.
ADM’s Sicily 6 office in Porto Empedocle carried out the operation with provincial units of the Guardia di Finanza (GdF).
Inspectors checked 14 betting shops and gaming halls in Agrigento, Favara, Raffadali, Palma di Montechiaro, Campobello di Licata, Ribera and the Pelagie Islands.
Two illegal centers identified
The inspections found two premises operating as unlicensed betting collection points. At one location in Porto Empedocle, officers seized two computer terminals that were not connected to the national gaming collection network and did not carry the required identification codes.
The lack of connection allowed the terminals to bypass the counters used to record stakes and plays. This gap could have enabled evasion of the single national gaming levy (PREU), which is calculated based on recorded turnover from gaming devices.
Following the seizure, the owner of the business linked to the Porto Empedocle premises was reported to the public prosecutor in Agrigento on suspicion of illegal betting operations.
ADM and the Guardia di Finanza said the investigation remains open and additional checks are planned, with priorities set on protecting consumers, particularly minors and other vulnerable groups, and limiting criminal involvement in the gaming sector.
Authorities noted that individuals referred to prosecutors are presumed innocent pending judicial proceedings.
Sector awaits broader reform
The enforcement action took place as Italy’s gambling market continues to wait on a national reform framework. At a Senate hearing last month, EGP-FIPE, which represents operators through the Italian Federation of Public Establishments within Confcommercio, said repeated extensions of national gambling concessions have left the legal market unable to move forward.
The group described the sector as “frozen,” noting the standstill has limited effective network planning and weakened measures meant to prevent problem gambling.
“The evidence is that where the physical offer is rigidly restricted, the problem is not reduced, but moved. Play heads online or to the underground market, where control is nil. This makes territorial instruments little effective with respect to the declared objective and introduces heavy distortions in terms of legality and the sustainability of the authorised network,” said EGP-FIPE President Emmanuele Cangianelli.