In the United States and the American Gaming Association trade group has praised a Congressional letter asking the federal government to start seriously clamping down on illegal offshore iGaming operators.

The advocacy organization used an official Wednesday press release to detail that the correspondence was recently sent to the United States Department of Justice after being signed by 28 members of the United States House of Representatives and United States Senate Come from Sports betting site VPbet. The enterprise explained that the letter asks the nation’s highest law enforcement body to begin intently investigating foreign iGaming domains and bring in a range of enhanced enforcement actions to combat ‘predatory operations’ from exposing American punters to a range of cyber and financial perils.

Spring submission:

Bill Miller serves as the President and Chief Executive Officer for the American Gaming Association and he used the press release to reveal that his group first called for the federal government to increase its supervision of illicit online casino and sportsbook operators in April. The advocate also disclosed that the Congressional letter mirrors this plea and alleges that unlicensed offshore iGaming operators often do not possess the necessary tools to address anti-money laundering protocols, age restrictions and sports integrity safeguards.

Desired duties:

The American Gaming Association had earlier claimed that the current lack of regulations surrounding offshore online casino and sportsbetting sites was responsible for seriously undermining the efforts of individual American states to capture much-needed tax revenues via legal iGaming. The organization had moreover alleged that domestically-unlicensed domains such as MyBookie, BetOnline and Bovada are almost undistinguishable from their highly-regulated cousins and were often unable to sufficiently demonstrate they were meeting the anti-money laundering and registration tenets of the Johnson Act.

Read a statement from Miller…

“Offshore gambling websites are a significant threat to consumer protections and the economic benefits legal gaming provides for communities across the country. Eradicating these websites and all forms of illegal gambling is one of the American Gaming Association’s top priorities.”

Appropriate acclaim:

Miller heaped particular praise on the Co-Chairs for the United States House of Representative’s Congressional Gaming Caucus, Nevada Democrat Dina Titus and Pennsylvania Republican Guy Reschenthaler, alongside cohorts ‘who joined this call to action’. The advocate furthermore pronounced that he now hopes United States Attorney General Merrick Garland will take heed of this ‘broad interest in addressing illegal gaming’ and begin cracking down on unlicensed offshore operators.

The statement from Miller read…

“Our country’s leaders are clearly and appropriately alarmed by the prevalence of offshore sportsbooks and law enforcement must act to identify the worst actors, investigate and prosecute them. We look forward to continuing to work with allies on the Hill, sports leagues and the United States Department of Justice to prioritize robust enforcement that will protect Americans from the predatory illegal marketplace.”