Bremen's Interior Senator Ulrich Mäurer (SPD) wants to close all 32 sports betting offices in the Hanseatic city.
Bremen (dpa/lni) - The four sports betting providers operating in Bremen were asked to explain where the money from their ten local franchisees for the opening of the betting shops came from, said Mäurer on Wednesday in Bremen. The opening of a betting shop costs operators up to 120,000 euros. "You have to shop there," said Mäurer. None of the providers could explain the origin of the money.
The background to the procedure is the change in the Bremen Gaming Act a year ago. It was intended to close a loophole in the nationwide money laundering law, as the senator explained. According to the State Treaty on Gambling, only the major providers have to explain where the capital for their business comes from.
Bremen is the only federal state that also obliges the operators of local betting shops to disclose the origin of their start-up capital. The companies were given a deadline of August 5 to submit documents. Mäurer said he expects the companies to take legal action against the closures: "We are prepared for that."
