Guardia di Finanza Brigadier General Michele Esposito said at a Rome event on 13 May that illegal gambling is linked to money laundering and transnational criminal networks. He said the legal gambling sector generates about €11bn in state revenue through several taxes and levies.
Illegal gambling links to money laundering threaten licensed operators and state revenue.
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Bologna’s Guardia di Finanza said it found more than €1.3m in poker winnings that a player had not declared in Italy. Investigators deemed the player’s move to Malta fictitious and referred the case to the Bologna prosecutor’s office over alleged failure to declare income.
Bologna's Guardia di Finanza said it identified more than €1.3m in undeclared poker winnings held by a live poker player who had moved his residence to Malta. The player has been treated as fiscally resident in Italy and referred to the Bologna prosecutor's office over alleged failure to declare income, according to the provincial command's account of the case.
Guardia di Finanza officers in Rome executed a preventive seizure of assets and funds worth more than €25m against five former employees of a state Gratta e Vinci concessionaire. The Lazio regional court of auditors ordered the seizure to secure a claim by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli. The former staff allegedly used system credentials to identify four winning tickets, two of €7m each and two of €5m each, which relatives and friends bought at retailers.
Guardia di Finanza officers from the Rome provincial command have executed a preventive seizure of assets and financial holdings worth more than €25m, the force said. The order was issued by the jurisdictional section of the Corte dei conti for Lazio to secure a claim held by the Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli as the damaged public administration. The amount matches the alleged state loss contested against five former employees of a state concessionaire for the Gratta e Vinci game; the concessionaire itself is described as wholly unconnected to the alleged conduct.
The Guardia di Finanza's Basilicata regional command intensified inspections of gaming halls, betting shops and top-up points. In the Lagonegrese area, officers found a top-up point had failed to ensure traceability of financial flows and referred the case to the state accounting office for possible penalties of up to €20,000; in Matera province, more than 50 top-ups breached the €100 weekly cash limit.
Italy's Guardia di Finanza increased inspections of gaming halls, betting shops and top-up points across Basilicata, the regional command said. The checks followed analysis of data on the spread of legal gambling in the region and were intended to counter illegal and irregular gambling and to prevent related money laundering, the report said.
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza found eight slot machines operating outside permitted hours during checks in Rome’s Testaccio and Ostiense districts on 1 October 2026, reportedly imposing a combined administrative fine of €3,600. The machines breached local rules on operating hours.
Italy’s Guardia di Finanza found three unauthorised gaming machines during a security inspection in Lumezzane, in Brescia province, reportedly carried out the previous day.