ANTIGAMBLING SWEEP IN SWEDEN

16 November 2007

Nationwide swoop on 150 locations


The Swedish police made numerous arrests and confiscated large amounts of gambling gear this week, raiding 150 location around the Scandinavian country, reports The Local.se. The report does not clarify whether online gambling venues were included in the operations.

Cafes, bars and clubs in Gothenburg, Stockholm, Västerås, Uppsala were visited, and police spokesman Malin Sahlstrom revealed that: "A large number of people have been arrested and questioned." Sahlstrom added that police have seized 300 illegal gaming machines.

The operation was described by police as the largest ever of its kind. Police and prosecutors were aided in their investigations by the Tax Board, the National Economic Crimes Bureau and the Gaming Board.

"I don't want to go into the exact number, but at least ten people are suspected of tax offences, false accounting offences and obstruction of tax checks," said Christina Greiner, chief prosecutor at the Economic Crimes Bureau.

Many more people were arrested on suspicion of illicit gambling and various breaches of Sweden's gaming laws.

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