Germany’s interstate authorities have launched a major offensive against illegal gambling networks following warnings from the Financial Action Task Force about serious money-laundering risks.
A three-year investigation culminated in raids on eleven premises, with Frankfurt’s Prosecutor’s Office revealing total stakes involved were worth almost €6bn, equivalent to around £5.1bn.
The coordinated operation brought together the Prosecutor’s Office, the Frankfurt Tax Office, the North Rhine-Westphalia Counter-Financial Crime State Office, and Frankfurt police, deploying more than 100 officers.
On September 8, investigators searched 11 locations across Frankfurt, the Rhine-Main area, and Cologne, targeting five individuals accused of running unlicensed online gambling services.
The illicit operation is alleged to have begun by mid-2021 and extended into 2026, with the suspects accused of running an online casino without the required licence between 2021 and 2023.
Alongside the gambling charges, authorities have opened proceedings over suspected tax evasion, with the alleged tax loss for 2024 alone estimated at €77.6 million, approximately $90.1 million.
Prosecutors believe taxes on the gambling operations were either paid only in part or not at all, prompting an asset restraint order of around €82 million to be executed during the operation.
Several expensive vehicles were seized and multiple bank accounts frozen as part of the enforcement action, underlining the significant financial scale of the alleged criminal network.
Germany’s Sports Betting Association, the DSWV, welcomed the raids but questioned whether existing estimates significantly understate the true size of the country’s illegal gambling market.
DSWV President Mathias Dahms said: “Nearly €6bn in wagers over two-and-a-half years in a single investigation must prompt a critical review of previous assumptions about the size of the black market.”
Dahms added: “If even a single case reveals such proportions, it inevitably raises the question of whether previous black market estimates realistically reflect the actual scope of the illegal market.”
Germany already has one of the worst player channelisation rates in Europe, a situation driven by restrictive legislation and a rampant black market that continues to draw players away from licensed platforms.
Estimates from H2 Gambling Capital in 2025 placed market channelisation for licensed online slots at between 22% and 25%, with projections suggesting the rate could fall as low as 20% by 2030 without meaningful reform.
Germany’s regulators have already begun adjusting online slot rules, with the GGL replacing the previous €1 maximum stake with a tiered system that allows players aged 21 and over to wager up to €3 per spin.
Players aged 21 or older who show no signs of harmful gambling behaviour over a 90-day period can wager up to €5, while those under 21 remain subject to the original €1 per spin limit.
Germany is currently reviewing its Interstate Treaty on Gambling, with the evaluation scheduled to conclude by the end of 2026, a process that could reshape how the country handles its unlicensed market.
