Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers co-led a bipartisan coalition of 50 attorneys general in urging the U.S. Department of Justice to assist in addressing the rampant spread of illegal offshore gaming across the country.
The coalition stressed the need for action to combat harm to the rule of law, consumers, and the economy from an unprecedented growth in illicit online gambling.
The request to the DOJ was made in a letter sent by Hilgers and the coalition to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“Illegal online sports betting and gaming operations have no place in Nebraska or anywhere else,” Hilgers said. “These bad actors violate both state and federal law to exploit vulnerable populations and must be stopped. We are grateful to our sister states for supporting this effort to bring these criminal enterprises to a halt.”
Illegal online sports betting and gaming operations are largely operated by foreign-based companies that routinely operate without proper licensure, offer limited or non-existent consumer protections, fail to effectively verify the age of users, ignore state boundaries, and evade tax obligations.
The letter highlights significant harm caused to states and residents by such unlawful platforms, particularly to young people, vulnerable adults, and state economies.
Specifically, the coalition asserts that illegal gaming operations expose users to fraudulent schemes and encourage problem gambling without any oversight or accountability, undercut state-regulated markets, and have been linked to money laundering, human trafficking, and other illegal conduct. Illegal online gaming is estimated to exceed more than $400 billion in volume annually, leading to more than $4 billion in lost tax revenue for states.
The letter encourages the DOJ to assist and coordinate with states in curbing illegal offshore gaming operations. DOJ can seek injunctions; seize servers, websites, domains, and proceeds; and coordinate with states and financial institutions in a way that will make the states’ ongoing efforts to stop illegal offshore gambling more effective.
Joining Hilgers are the attorneys general of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Utah.
The letter was also signed by the attorneys general of Alabama, Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
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