The casino was a VIP establishment where only people recommended by regular clients were allowed in and a purchase of at least $5000 worth of chips was required. The casino had tables for card games, roulette and one-arm bandits.

Detectives from the ministry’s K division worked to collect evidence under a disguise of clients to allow riot police raid the casino.

Police confiscated $10 million worth of chips and 12 million roubles ($400,000) in cash as well as 11 one-armed bandits, 6 card tables and 2 roulettes.

The gang consisted of 20 members, former employees of one of the large casinos in Moscow. Their leader, a 38-year-old citizen of Ukraine living in Russia without the necessary registration was arrested. The man said that he had thought that he would not go to prison because he was not a Russian citizen.

Illegal gambling has spread rapidly across Russia since a new law came into force last July banning casinos and slots machines in towns and cities.

Gambling has been banned outside four specially designed zones since July 2009. Altogether 525 casinos and gambling machine halls were closed. Since then more than 600 criminal cases were opened on illegal gambling business, 33 of them have been sent to courts.