Polla Chilena files criminal complaint against 11 online betting operators in Chile

Polla Chilena de Beneficencia has filed a criminal complaint against 11 online betting operators, accusing them of running unauthorized gambling activities in Chile and potentially committing money laundering and criminal association offenses. For PSPs and acquirers, the important part is not the rhetoric: the filing specifically targets payment flows, merchant records, and compliance files.

1. The complaint was filed on 20 August at the Cuarto Juzgado de Garantía de Santiago and was admitted the following day. The case now moves to the Ministerio Público for investigation.
2. The operators named in the filing are Estelar Bet, Coolbet, Betsson, Betano, Jugabet, 1xBet, Micasino, Rojabet, Novibet, LatamWin and Juega en Línea.
3. According to Polla, these platforms are not just foreign sites accessible from Chile. The state company argues they have built specific mechanisms to attract users in the country, including registration for Chilean residents, deposits and withdrawals through locally available payment methods, and promotions aimed at a Chilean audience. The complaint also points to advertising campaigns, sponsorship agreements with sports organizations, and an offering that includes sports betting, blackjack, poker, roulette and slots.
4. A central line of inquiry is the movement of funds. Polla asked investigators to examine how the platforms receive money from Chile, convert it into betting balances, pay out winnings, and then transfer resources to other related companies. It also requested review of bank accounts, financial records, beneficial owners, transactions, and the mechanisms used to distribute profits.
5. The filing also asks for information from payment service providers, including contracts, transaction logs, internal alerts, and compliance-related records. In practical terms, that is the part high-risk PSPs should care about: if a provider is connected to these flows, the investigation is explicitly looking at how funds were handled and whether any system was used to hide or disguise the source of funds, which could support a money laundering allegation.

Polla further argues that a digital betting platform can function as a “digital house” of gambling by concentrating the offer, managing user balances, processing bets, and making payouts. It also asked investigators to look at a possible criminal association if the evidence shows a stable organization with structure, hierarchy, and division of functions.