MOSCOW, February 19 (RIA Novosti) - An owner of an illegal poker club in Moscow was sentenced to three years in prison and a fine of 36 million rubles (almost $1.2 million) on Tuesday, the Rapsi legal news agency reported.
Igor Klobukov, 49, was found guilty of organizing an illegal casino and an attempt to bribe an FSB officer with 1 million rubles ($33,000). The man entered a plea bargain with the investigators.
Illegal casinos have mushroomed across Russia since a law came into force in July 2009 banning gambling everywhere except four designated remote zones: in the Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, south Siberia's Altai Territory, Primorye in the Far East and in southern Russia near the Sea of Azov.
