Prosecutor hands down first conviction in Argentinian clampdown

A key figure behind the Miljugadas online gambling brand has been handed a suspended three-year prison sentence by a court in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Quinton Gregori Marshall was given the sentence by Judge Rodolfo Ariza Clérici, Head of the Criminal, Contraventional and Number One Misdemeanor Court. He was also reportedly ordered to pay court costs.

Marshall must also comply with a number of other conditions over the next two years, including giving notice of any plans to leave the country.

Marshall had been accused of playing helping to steer numerous websites in connection with the brand – including Miljugadas.com, Miljugadas1.com, Miljugadas2.com and Miljugadas55.com – without the permission of LOTBA, the Lottery of Buenos Aires.

The websites were shut down last year and it is the first conviction of an online gambling operator in the country.

According to the city’s Public Prosecutor, Martin Lapadú, more than 180 cases are being investigated, with court orders having been secured for 130 of those, forcing local internet service providers to block the websites.

At the end of 2017, the Argentinian government unveiled new legislation to impose sales tax of up to 27 per cent for offshore operators.

Gambling operators in Argentina already face high levels of taxation, with a rate of 41.5 per cent applied to corporate income, in addition to 0.75 per cent on each bet and a two-per-cent tax on each wager place via online gambling channels.