Striking 'illegal betting' report from the Court of Accounts: 'No legal basis, no penalty'

While a new illegal betting case is added every day, new betting sites are being launched one after another.  

“Spor Toto Organization Presidency”, the Court of Accounts, which prepared the report, drew attention to the fact that laws against those conducting illegal betting are insufficient.

According to the report by the Türkiye newspaper, the number of cases opened regarding illegal betting has exploded in the last two years. The number of cases, which was 119 in 2019, rose to 954 in 2022 and 1,937 last year.

Stating that the closure of illegal betting sites takes up to 15 days due to procedural reasons, and sometimes the duration extends to a month, the report said, “In 2023, 13 thousand 246 site contents were examined. Access blocking decisions were taken for 276 of them. After these sites were blocked, they were reopened in a very short time with some minor changes made to the website domain name. It was observed that one account was reopened despite being closed 14 times in 2023. There is a need for additional legal and technical measures to ensure more effective and faster results in this regard.”

There is no clear regulation in Law No. 6502 regarding illegal betting advertisements and sanctions related to them. A regulation was made in the Banking Law to prevent the use of banking transactions, bank cards, and credit cards in illegal betting activities. The BRSA (BDDK) was granted authority. However, no sanctions were included regarding the actions to be taken against those who act contrary to the decisions to be taken by the BRSA.

'CRIMINAL SANCTIONS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE LAW AND REGULATION'

It is important for banks to identify the accounts of individuals who engage in illegal betting, intermediary accounts used for money transfers, and main accounts belonging to those who conduct illegal betting through filtering and other methods. Although there is no regulation regarding illegal betting in Law No. 6493, it was observed that the issue of illegal betting was included in the regulation.

There is no separate criminal sanction in the law or regulation regarding the actions to be taken against those who act contrary to these procedures. Bettors mostly use payment service systems. This system needs to be focused on with importance. In the report, where it was stated that there is not enough personnel for inspection, it was reported that 720 social media accounts were examined in 2023, and judicial proceedings were initiated against 419 of them.

News Source: 12punto