Corruption in Rhode Island: Shady Bargain in Online Gambling – CasinoBettingNews

Rhode Island Ethics is nothingshort of a joke, especially if we consider the states rampant corruption inthe gambling industry. The Ethics Commission of the state is frequentlyconsidered a lapdog instead of a watchdog. Now, the Democratic Governor of thestate Gina Raimondo is being called out for her corrupt ties with gambling.

Raimondo has an unusually closerelationship with International Game Technology (IGT), and even fellow DemocratNicholas Mattiello calls it incestuous. She went on to give IGT a no-bidcontract worth $1 billion to run the lottery service in the state for 20 years.No-bid contracts not just eliminate competition but reek of corruption as well,especially when a Governor ties a company to the lottery for a whopping twodecades.

It is also important to note thatIGTs Rhode Island performance is underwhelming than its peers. Other companieswith similar contracts in other states have performed considerably better thanIGT. Slot machines operated by SGI recorded 56% higher profits, but IGT endedup with a $31,000 lower revenue per machine for Rhode Island. In the lastfiscal alone, IGTs questionable performance has cost state taxpayers about $25million.

But Rhode Islands bid to attractonline gambling revenue is not uncommon. Most US states are rushing to createonline gambling regulations in hopes of larger revenues. The PASPA strike downin 2018 has now opened a larger avenue for online gambling companies to work inthe US. Unfortunately, most of these companies are registered and licensedabroad and do not have what it takes to operate in a highly regulated marketlike the US.

Shady practices by overseas firmsare quite common. For instance, Gaming Innovative Group was slapped with a $5million fine in Sweden for providing sports betting options to minors. Firmspaid over 4.5 million in fines to the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) forfailing to prevent money laundering and providing safe gambling options tousers. Norwegian authorities went as far ahead as to ban six gaming firms basedin Malta over corruption charges. The Chinese app store of Apple removedthousands of apps providing gambling services because of a targeted state mediacampaign against the companies.

With the bad repute of onlinegambling firms and rampant corruption in Rhode Island, it would be interestingto check if gambling stops being a burden on the taxpayers anytime soon.

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Corruption in Rhode Island: Shady Bargain in Online Gambling - CasinoBettingNews