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What is Magic Tricks?
FATF’s warning on illegal and offshore gambling will resonate in Denmark. Last year, Spillemyndigheden secured a court order to block 178 unlicensed gambling sites, the largest such action in the regulator’s history.
The case highlighted how illegal operators disguise their presence through multiple site variations, a tactic the FATF report also flags as a red flag indicator.
Denmark’s approach reflects a wider pattern that FATF has tracked for years through its own grey and black listing system. Under this system, jurisdictions with weak AML/CTF controls face increased monitoring or reputational sanction.
About Magic Tricks
Coordinated efforts between the government’s cybercrime and anti-smuggling units, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board (MASAK) and local prosecutors led to raids in the provinces of Adıyaman, Konya, Manisa, Muğla, Tekirdağ, Siirt, Muş and Çorum.
Officials alleged that the individuals involved had been operating illegal betting websites and had facilitated the movement of proceeds from gambling through Türkiye’s financial system.
The Interior Ministry insisted that the crackdown on digital illegal gambling would persist as part of a broader strategy to prevent criminal proceeds being fed into the economy via banking and payment infrastructures.
About Magic Tricks
The same divide exists in Tunisia and Egypt. Governments there have focused on prohibition and enforcement rather than opening online markets to private operators.
Sports betting in Morocco, including online betting and virtual events, is reserved to state-owned Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS). The company is 90% held by the Treasury and chaired by the sports minister.
Its exclusivity reportedly runs to 2036 under an unpublished 2016 convention with the state. The commercial operation is run under a tendered management contract rather than a licence. Unauthorised gaming houses and lotteries are criminal offences under articles 282 to 285 of the penal code.
