The German Sports Betting Association has blasted an order issued by the city-state of Bremen to close all betting shops. Authorities in the city said it was issuing the order on the grounds that it was not convinced that betting operators were not fronts for money laundering.
The city has rejected applications from 32 high-street betting shops that had applied for new licenses under Germany’s new interstate gambling treaty, which came into effect last July. It said that some operators failed to provide written evidence of how they had secured the startup funds for their businesses, while one was located too close to a school. Operators have until August 5 to appeal.
Bremen is Germany’s smallest city state. Authorities highlighted a 2019 report from Germany’s finance ministry and federal police that found that said criminals were using gambling to launder dirty money and also directly investing money to buy betting shops. In some cases, gambling was simulated.
In Germany, betting shops are often not run by large chains but by smaller businesses that buy a franchise licence.
The Guardian quoted Bremen senator for internal affairs, Ulrich Mäurer, as saying: “At its core, this is about checking the reliability of these operators. We also want to guarantee that no money from dodgy businesses like drug dealing or human trafficking is being laundered here and thus flows into legal money cycles.”
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