A criminal ring that had been operating within the country was taken down by authorities this week, as police conducted a raid on 37 residences.
Twenty seizure orders were released by Israeli courts to allow authorities to grab the vehicles and assets of individuals suspected in the case, and 160 bank accounts were frozen, as well. Investigators representing the Israeli Tax Authority, the Money Laundering Prohibition Authority, and state prosecutors conducted the inquiries and subsequent raids.
Police spokesmen say the online gambling ring, which concentrated on sports betting, took in almost us$ 100 million over the last couple years. Over 70 million separate visits were recorded during that two years to the gaming website.
Police say the raids were only the first of many blows planned to help end the spread of illegal gambling rings in Israel. Representatives from several policing agencies are acting together under the Joint Intelligence Center to detect and shut down online casinos and Internet gambling.