Coljuegos and the Government of Chocó Agree to Work Together Against Illegal Betting
- The pacts for legality are a strategy led by Coljuegos, through which it seeks to commit territorial entities to fight against illegal betting.
- During 2024, Coljuegos has signed agreements for legality with the departments of Tolima, Huila, Sucre and Chocó.
Bogotá DC, Colombia (May 17, 2024) — To combat criminal structures that are financed through illegal betting, Coljuegos and the Government of Chocó signed an agreement for legality that seeks to strengthen the authorized industry and protect health resources.
“The department of Chocó has great social needs. For this reason, from our administration, we are committed to pursuing illegality and guaranteeing that health resources reach the territories that need them most,” said the president of Coljuegos, Marco Emilio Hincapié.
And he added: “We know that illegal gaming situations occur in Chocó. Municipalities in the San Juan sector are affected by Keno, a game that is not authorized and for which we are working to build regulation. We also see that raffles that operate without authorization and that go against the provisions of the law are common.”
For her part, the governor of Chocó, Nubia Carolina Córdoba, highlighted the importance of promoting legal gambling with the aim of increasing health transfers and, in this way, serving the communities that live in remote territories of the department.
“This is an opportunity for us, together, to fight against illegality and corruption, and to ensure that the resources that come from this monopoly can benefit the well-being of the citizens who need it most,” said the governor.
“With this pact we are on the path towards legality so that games of luck and chance are an engine for the health of Chocoanos and Chocoanas,” added the governor.
It is important to highlight that, during the first quarter of 2024, games of chance and Raspa&Ready have accumulated sales of $7,949 million. Likewise, territorial games in the department of Chocó have transferred a total of $1,000 million for health, of which $894 million comes from chance and $106 million from Scratch & Ready.
In addition to the above, between January 2023 and March 2024, the Western Services Network, operator of the chance game, has transferred $6,542 million to the Nation for VAT. Likewise, in the same period, the department of Chocó received more than $802 million additionally due to the tax on foreign lotteries.
“On average, from January 2023 to April of this year, we have managed to transfer $10 million a day for health from chance sales. Furthermore, in Chocó we have 280 workers on the payroll and 1,200 independent installers who derive their livelihood from the activity we carry out,” said Jaime Fernández, legal representative of the Western Services Network.
It is worth mentioning that those who operate illegally are committing crimes such as the illicit exercise of monopolistic activity of profiteering, money laundering, illicit enrichment, among others.
SOURCE: Coljuegos
Tags: Coljuegos, “illegal activities”, Chocó
