A Risk Map of Gambling-Related Crime
The world of gambling is an environment known for the rapid circulation of property, and it is precisely this that creates the soil in which fraud schemes grow. The Criminal Code of Georgia protects this sphere in several directions: fraud, that is, the appropriation of another’s property or the acquisition of a property right by deception with the aim of unlawful appropriation (Article 180); property damage by deception (Article 185); the acquisition or sale of property obtained by crime with prior knowledge (Article 186); illegal entrepreneurship (Article 192); and legalisation of illegal income, known as money laundering (Article 194). The risk runs both ways: on one side, players and manipulators experience fraud, and on the other, operators and their partners fall under the threat of qualification.
Deposit-bonus schemes, manipulations offering “guaranteed” winnings, forged documents, unlicensed gaming operations and the “washing” of received income are each qualified under different articles, with correspondingly different sanctions — from a fine to imprisonment. Below we explain each direction in detail, so that both the injured party and the business can understand what is at stake.