Ten illegal gambling clubs have been uncovered in Moscow and a high-ranking official of the local police has been arrested, possibly in connection with a scheme to protect them.
More than 20 raids found some 300 gambling machines and computers with gambling software were confiscated and more than 5 million rubles (US$150,000) in cash, police said.
The venues were taking in the equivalent of US$3,500 in revenue a day, the Russian Interior Ministry said.
News reports said the operations were organized by immigrants from Georgia and Udmurtia and were managed remotely.
The deputy head of the Biryulyovo Vostochnoye district police also was taken into custody, although it was not known if this was related to the raids.
Moscow was at the center of a major gambling scandal two years ago after the Federal Security Service exposed a network of illegal casinos with branches in 15 surrounding towns. Ten law enforcement officers were arrested in connection with the case. They were later released, but the investigation into their alleged involvement is still in progress.
Casinos were outlawed in Russia’s major cities in 2009 and restricted to four outlying areas: Kaliningrad in European Russia, the Don-Rostov region, Altai in Central Asia and Vladivostok in the Pacific Far East.
