Swiss illegal gambling network generated more than CHF300m, analysis says

A criminal investigation by the public prosecutor's office of the Canton of Zurich established that a single criminal network generated revenue of more than CHF300m from illegal gambling over several years, according to an analysis by Karin Marti, a lawyer in Bern, published in the October 2026 issue of the legal journal Zeitschrift für Wett- und Glücksspielrecht. The analysis, titled Blick in die illegale Geldspielszene der Schweiz, states that the figure may represent only part of the actual market in a country of about nine million inhabitants.

According to the analysis, the traditional image of clandestine poker games in small venues no longer reflects the complexity of the phenomenon, and many illegal activities are run by structured organisations. On 19 December 2025 federal councillor Beat Jans said publicly that organised crime groups are frequently involved in running illegal gambling venues and machines, and the Federal Council adopted a national strategy against organised crime the same day, identifying both legal and illegal gambling as areas exposed to money-laundering and criminal infiltration.

The analysis describes divided responsibilities: the Commissione federale delle case da gioco (ESBK) is competent for casino games, including online, while supervision of large lotteries and sports betting falls to the intercantonal authority Gespa, and criminal investigations are conducted by the cantonal prosecutor's offices. Smaller games involve the cantonal authorities. With 26 cantons plus the federal level, identifying the competent authority can itself be a first difficulty, and two procedural regimes coexist: the criminal procedure code applied at cantonal level and the administrative criminal law used in federal proceedings, which dates from 1975 and has never been comprehensively revised.

According to the analysis, the administrative criminal law lacks some modern investigative tools, including certain forms of covert surveillance. The issue arises particularly with online platforms offering both sports betting and casino games, where a single operator using the same site and gaming account can fall under two authorities and procedures, with consequences for coordination, the usability of evidence and the risk of duplicate sanction proceedings.

On penalties, the analysis states that unauthorised organisation and operation of casino games and large games carries prison sentences of up to three years or financial penalties, rising to up to five years when activities are carried out professionally or by organised groups, while other violations carry fines of up to CHF500,000. Platforms licensed in jurisdictions such as Malta or Curaçao can be illegal in Switzerland when they offer games without the required national concession; authorities can order access to unauthorised sites blocked, but the analysis notes that VPNs or alternative DNS servers make such restrictions relatively easy to circumvent. International judicial cooperation faces obstacles, including the double-criminality requirement for coercive measures such as searches and seizures and assistance requests that can take months or years.

Players who take part in illegal games commit no offence in Switzerland, the analysis states, but winnings can be confiscated even when the player has not committed an offence, and the state can make an equivalent financial claim if the sums are no longer available. The Federal Court confirmed the principle in a judgment of 1 April 2020 concerning illegal Texas Hold'em tournaments, holding that the net-profit principle applies to non-responsible players, allowing deduction of participation costs for games actually won. In a further decision of 7 March 2023, the Federal Criminal Court dealt with a player who had lost about $226,000 at an unauthorised Maltese online casino; the court rejected his appeal against the denial of party status, clarifying that administrative criminal proceedings do not grant a private complainant the same rights as ordinary criminal proceedings. Confiscated sums generally go to the Confederation and are not automatically returned to players.

The analysis also addresses civil recovery of losses, noting that some legal actions in Switzerland rely on the nullity of gaming contracts concluded with unauthorised operators and on unjust enrichment provisions, but that the matter remains legally uncertain without settled case law. It cites difficulties in enforcing foreign judgments in Malta against operators licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority following the 2023 introduction of article 56A of the Gaming Act, known as Bill 55.

Regionally, complaints and proceedings are regularly recorded in the cantons of Zurich, Aargau and Basel-Stadt, while reports are much lower in other areas; according to Marti, these differences do not necessarily show a lower prevalence of illegal gambling but may depend on police investigative priorities and knowledge of the applicable rules. Operating methods also vary between German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, with online offers prevailing in some regions and non-networked machines and clandestine card games such as poker, Romé and Okey more widespread in others.

The analysis calls for modernising investigative tools and improving coordination between the Confederation and the cantons. On 13 May 2026 the Federal Council took note of the results of the consultation on the revision of administrative criminal law and decided to proceed with a reform giving particular weight to the costs and benefits of the proposed changes. According to the analysis, the question of whether the reform can overcome the structural problems identified remains open, and in the absence of decisive measures close cooperation between federal and cantonal authorities will remain a determining factor in tackling illegal gambling and the criminal organisations operating in it.