Gambling regulation and fraud investigations in Italy

Italian authorities are conducting multi-faceted operations to combat illegal gambling, financial crimes, and addiction. In the Basilicata region, the Guardia di Finanza has intensified investigations into illegal gaming halls and money laundering, specifically targeting failures in financial traceability that could result in significant fines.

In Rome, a major investigation into “Gratta e Vinci” scratch card fraud led to the seizure of assets worth over €25 million. Five former employees of a gaming concessionaire—who is not implicated in the wrongdoing—are accused of manipulating company servers to identify high-value winning tickets. Investigators allege the suspects used IT access credentials to identify four specific winning tickets—two prizes of €7 million each and two prizes of €5 million each—before they were sold. To claim the winnings, the suspects reportedly had associates, including relatives and friends, purchase the tickets from various retailers across Italy to bypass random mechanisms.

The resulting seizure, conducted by the Guardia di Finanza on behalf of the Regional Prosecutor of the Court of Auditors for Lazio, includes 25 real estate properties (such as apartments, villas, garages, and cellars) across the provinces of Rome, Viterbo, Treviso, Taranto, Grosseto, and Reggio Calabria, as well as vehicles and financial assets. These assets are intended to compensate the Customs and Monopolies Agency.

Parallel to these law enforcement actions, health data from Lombardy highlights the public health dimension of the issue. Reports indicate that gambling disorder accounts for 7% of all addiction cases treated by regional health agencies, with a high concentration of cases recorded in the Milan area.