Despite the fact that gambling has been banned in the Russian capital city, the illegal casinos are rising and blooming. This happens because of the police corruption and the bad legislation disrupting the public service clerks.
The embargo on gambling proved rather inefficient in Russia. Two weeks into June, police picked up on and locked down 662 clandestine gambling rooms. Some of them had a few slot machines, while others were real casinos, equipped with gaming tables and roulette games.
When thinking of how fast the police found them, the conclusion is that they had known about their existence long before that. In fact, there have been rumors that certain casinos are under the police protection. On June 2, the former deputy prosecutor in Moscow, the prime suspect in a case of police protection for illegal casinos, was released on parole. There are other eleven people, high-rank police officers, associated with this very case.
An artist points the finger
The illegal casinos are flourishing, mainly in the Moscow suburbs. Aleksei Lebedinki, a popular singer living in one of these areas, said that there are around 30 outlawed casinos in a district within 3 km away from his residence.
Merely one day after the casinos were closed down by the police, their operators are sending messages to the clients to let them know about the new location where they can go and play again.
Lebedinski told us that there are some gambling rooms making between USD 45,000 and 90,000 in one night. A club with 30-40 slot machines can easily reach winnings of one million dollars per month. He also said that the scandal involving police has not stopped the number of prohibited gambling sites from growing. More than that, he claims that he personally reported the facts to the police, but he was ignored and even received anonymous threats.
