RUSSIAN GAMBLING LAWS TO BE TIGHTENED

Written On  4/3/11 By Emily Apontif :

Almost 400 illegal casinos shut down in recent weeks as police step up enforcement
 
Stung by reports that senior police officers and prosecutors have been protecting massive illegal gambling activity, the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has made proposals to tighten the country's already draconian anti-gambling laws.
 
Against a background of intensified police action that has seen almost 400 online and land gambling venues shut down in Moscow alone during recent weeks, the president proposed Saturday the introduction of new provisions and punitive measures making it a specific criminal offence to organise and manage illegal gambling operations, an activity currently classified as "running an unregistered enterprise."
 
The proposed changes are now subject to ratification by the legislature, reports RIA Novosti.
 
In 2009 the Russian leader Vladimir Putin implemented a decree banning all gambling in Russia but for four isolated regions, driving the activity underground and online