Gießen Modell to fight illegal games of chance model for whole region of Hessen

The problem of illegal games of chance is a constant problem for the regions. Three years ago, the police commissioner in Gießen had had enough. The fight against these services was drastically intensified. The special organisational structure “Spektrum” was created. The successes heaped up – and now the model will be adopted for the whole region of Hessen. The municipalities are really pleased.

Nearly every week there are (among others here) new headlines about illegal offers of games of chance all over Germany. Tax evasion is at the top of the list of offences. We also read about other issues, such as critical casino streaming or bribery.

According to an article in the Gießener Allgemeinen the police commissioner of Central Hessen had had enough – even the huge dark field was a thorn in the eye for the authority. They had registered remarkable successes, however more action was needed to register remarkable long-term effects. Three years ago, the Central Commission 30 (ZK 30) set up a specialised investigating group.

The so-called Gießen Model was established, in which a police commissioner was coordinating the work with the regulatory agency and customs. The close cooperation offers the possibilities of taking drastic measures. They profit from the information they share with each other continuously.

A special BAO “Spektrum” picks up

The organisational structure “Spektrum” was founded to monitor the effectiveness of the procedures. This structure is a police unit with certain time limitations. This unit is also active in other areas which fall under the police commissioner of Middle Hessen. Meanwhile Spektrum has become an organisational structure with daily operations.

With great success: 300 illegal slot machines were secured since 2020. We are talking about 70 processes against providers of games of chance who did not comply with the regulations. Very often only a few of the slots were registered in smaller casinos, but then other illegal games were operated in other premises or in back rooms.

Besides recording several offences about tax payments which were not made, the investigators also had to confiscate the equipment which had been tempered with. Older irregular game slots were used, and they showed no sign of limitation. The investigators responsible for these cases state that these involve possible income of around 10,000 Euro per month.

Reaction of the Minister for Intern of Hessen

The successes of the searches in Gießen and the surrounding areas were met with great interest. As the Minister for Intern Peter Beuth said, in order to combat the black market, in the future the significant successes achieved in Hessen in the field of illegal gambling should be adopted in all regions. 

Turns out profitable for the local authorities to transfer the Gießen model to the region

For the local authorities this initiative means that there are great chances that they will receive extra income from taxes, i.e., supplementary payments. They will, as far as possible, support the initiative to expose gambling delinquents. A case from the area of Gießen, in which the casino operator had to pay 138,000 in supplementary taxes, shows how profitable the initiative can be.

Conclusion

The police in Hessen have made significant successes. The region is thus less interesting for the operators of illegal games of chance. However, this is just a drop in the ocean. All regions must work together and use the same rigour to combat criminality, otherwise there will still be plenty of room for intrigues in the field of games of chance. According to the association for entertainment and vending machines industry there are currently 150,000 legal slot machines in Germany, and around 40,000 (!) illegal ones.

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