A department of the Greek government estimates the scale of illegal gambling in the country at €5 billion a year.
That’s what Giorgos Sourlas , general secretary of transparency and human rights, recently told Vassilis Kikilias, the newly appointed minister of public order.
Sourlas said the black market is causing harm to the national economy and is a substantial money-laundering threat, and he has told the Hellenic Gaming Commission that steps are being taken to crack down on it in conjunction with the Greek Economic Police and other agencies.
It is also hurting the legal market, which has experienced a decline in turnover of 35 percent—from €8.7 billion in 2009 to €5.5 billion last year—and has seen gross profits fall from €2.5 billion to €1.5 billion over the same period.
