The chief executive of one of the world's biggest online bookmaker was detained in Israel on Thursday, following the latest crackdown on the online gambling industry that the Israeli authorities have initiated.
Michael Carlton, the chief executive of Victor Chandler International, a Gibraltar-based online bookmaker, was questioned for more than two hours before he was allowed to return to the company's headquarters.
Carlton was detained due to an advertising campaign that Victor Chandler is running, mostly on Israeli buses. Internet gambling and its advertising are considered illegal in the Israel, but so far no real action, such as detainment or arrest, was taken against advertisers and online gambling companies.
The crackdown on the online gambling industry in Israel began in December 2006, when gaming company Interlogic was notified that the country's attorney general and police determined that the operation of a website that offers real money gambling was a criminal offence.
The recent developments in Israel might cause concern to the online bookmaker, since, according to its owner, Victor Chandler, Israel had rapidly become the company's second-biggest market. Gambling in Israel is a monopoly controlled by a state-run gambling board.
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