The Attorney General and the State Prosecutor’s Office ordered action taken against gambling website advertising.
The computer crime department in the Israel Police National Fraud Unit today raided the offices of Internet websites Walla! and Sport Line. The police suspect that the sites have been advertising illegal gambling sites. The police conducted searches in order to collect evidence and suspects related to advertising, and also interrogated suspects and witnesses.
The investigation began after the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor’s Office instructed the Police Investigations and Security Department to act against advertising for gambling websites, particularly Internet advertising. Investigation revealed that Walla! had advertised a number of gambling sites, such as BeTheDealer Casino, Stan James and King Solomon Casino, and that Sport Line had also advertised a gambling site.
Walla Communications (TASE: WALA) notified the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that it had no details about the investigation. The company also noted that its revenue from advertising of gambling sites was not significant.
The main shareholders in Walla Communications are Bezeq International (43%) and Haaretz Publishing (27.7%). Walla earned an NIS 8.1 million profit on NIS 54.2 million in revenue in January-September 2005.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2005