Ethiopia Arrests 24 in Probe Into Br100 Billion Betting Revenue Concealment
Authorities in Ethiopia have launched one of their most far-reaching financial-crime investigations in recent years, detaining 24 people linked to sports-betting companies accused of hiding more than Br100 billion in undeclared income. The operation was led by the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) with support from the Financial Security Service and the federal police.
Security teams carried out coordinated raids in Addis Ababa, Dire Dawa, and several other locations after months of intelligence-gathering. Officials say those arrested are connected to a mix of entities: companies that had lost their licences, operators working without authorisation, and individuals who allegedly ran online betting platforms using foreign infrastructure.
Investigators reported that several of the implicated firms had no permanent headquarters, operated through foreign-hosted digital systems, and in some cases closed or vacated their offices to avoid inspection.
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According to NISS, the group under investigation used a range of methods to suppress or disguise revenue. These include:
- Deliberate underreporting of betting turnover
- Crypto-based transactions to obscure the origin and destination of funds
- Use of international hawala networks to move money outside the formal banking system
- Collaboration with some payment processors who allegedly misstated transaction volumes
Authorities believe these tactics allowed the operators to divert significant sums that should have been subject to taxation.
The scale of the suspected concealment, over Br100 billion has raised alarm within the government, which is working to strengthen tax collection and reduce leakages in fast-growing sectors such as digital betting. Officials note that the rise of online platforms, many of them controlled from outside the country, has complicated oversight and opened avenues for financial misconduct. Security agencies have continued to encourage citizens to report suspicious betting activity.
Source: Birr Metrics
