4 Illegal Gambling Operations Shut Down In Michigan
Published February 22, 2020 by Sol FH
State officials issue cease-and-desist orders to four Oakland County businesses that were operating illegal gambling activity.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board has issued cease-and-desist orders to four Michigan businesses that were found to be offering illegal gambling to customers. The state was looking into these operations for quite some time and the investigation was conducted with Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office.
All of the businesses are located in Oakland County, but three of them claimed that the machines they had were redemption games, which are actually not games of chance and are completely legal in the state. After the investigation, the Michigan Gaming Board found that all four of the businesses were offering video slot machines.
Richard Kalm, executive director of the Michigan Gaming Board related, "Illegal gambling can lead to money laundering and other crimes that impact the safety and security of Michigan communities. Legal gambling is taxed and regulated, and taxes go back into the community as funding for K-12 education. An illegal gambling operation doesn’t support the community but instead siphons funds away from it.”
The four businesses were offered two options, cease-and-desist immediately, or face a trial. The maximum sentence for this kind of charge is up to 10-years.
10 More in Violation
Outside of Oakland County, an additional ten businesses were found to be in violation of the state's gambling laws and decided to cease their operations rather than facing potential criminal charges.
“Gambling regulations are in place for a reason, and when bad actors choose to ignore the law, they must be held accountable,” Nessel related. “We’re grateful for the opportunity to work with our partners at the Michigan Gaming Control Board in putting a stop to these illegal operations.”
Michigan is one of the states that is actually leaning towards the legislation of gambling activities like online casinos and online sports betting.
Prior to the end of 2019, Michigan became the 20th state to sign new sports betting legislation into law.
