Italy’s “King of Slots” Arrested
Published: Wednesday, 14 December 2016 16:57 An Italian gambling magnate Francesco Corallo known as “ the king of slots ” was arrested on Tuesday on the Dutch Caribbean half-island of Sint Maarten for his alleged involvement in an offshore tax evasion scheme, Italy’s Financial Guard said. Francesco Corallo was charged with conspiracy to commit crimes including tax evasion, money laundering and embezzlement. Among the five people arrested in Sint Marteen and Italy were Amedeo Laboccetta, a former member of the Italian Parliament, and Rudolf Baetsen, a Dutch national described as Corallo’s right-hand man in an indictment obtained by OCCRP partner Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI). The investigation centered on the activities of Atlantis-Bplus, recently rebranded as Starnet, a company controlled by Corallo operating video gambling machines and online gambling sites. After obtaining a license from the Italian gambling authority in 2004, the group quickly acqu...