Coljuegos also announced that it has destroyed 3,986 elements of games of chance that were used in illegal bets.
During 2023, evasion in Colombia exceeded US$30 million, a figure that represents up to 35% of the total transfers that were made to the health of Colombians in the same period, according to Coljuegos, the regulatory entity for games of chance in the country. country.
“For this reason, we are taking institutional measures that allow us to improve surveillance and control of operators. Proof of this is that, in the last five months, we have made nearly 400 contractual monitoring and inspection visits to authorized operators in all modalities,” said Marco Emilio Hincapié, president of the entity.
The entity is also investigating around 681 cases of alleged unauthorized operations. Of the total number of processes, “621 correspond to citizen complaints for the possible illegal operation of localized games such as bingo, electronic slot machines, roulette, Internet betting modules, among others,” Coljuegos explained in a statement.
On the other hand, it is reviewing 35 cases of unauthorized raffles and promotions, as well as 25 gaming operators located for the alleged operation of machines that are not registered, “but that operate in legal casinos that do have a current concession contract. . Added to this are 976 blocking orders for websites that carry out illegal bets.”
According to Hincapié, the actions they are developing aim to protect health resources. “Last year, Coljuegos transferred US$227.9 million, and, with the work to control evasion and illegality, we hope to reach US$243.8 million this year.”
What happened in 2024?
Coljuegos also announced that it has destroyed 3,986 elements of games of chance that were used in illegal bets. As he explained, so far this year he has audited the operation of nearly 28,000 electronic slot machines throughout the country, “in order to verify the accuracy of the transfers made.”
In addition, it mentioned that it has opened a total of 485 sanctioning processes against localized gaming operators who, allegedly, would be evading or omitting the payment of the corresponding exploitation rights, which would affect resources for health. Hincapié said that these processes represent close to US$584,106 that would no longer be received by Coljuegos.
“We invite operators to submit applications in accordance with the requirements published on our website. This will allow our entity to speed up responses and avoid the administrative burden that comes with reviewing incomplete documentation,” added the president.
