The POLICE have rounded up 22 private lotto operators in Kumasi for allegedly operating without licence from the National Lotteries Authority (NLA).
A source at the Police Buffalo Unit told the Daily Graphic that the suspects, otherwise known as banker-to-banker operators would be screened and those found culpable would be processed for court.
Police seized several booklets being used by the suspects at the time of their arrest
According to the police source, they undertook the operation following complaints by the NLA about the activities of the banker-to-banker operators.
The Ashanti Regional Auditor of the NLA, Mr Atta Kofi Amoako, who accompanied the police during the operations, said all efforts by his outfit to get the banker-to-banker operators to register had proved futile.
In February, 2010, the Supreme Court, by a ruling, banned the operation of banker-to-banker following a legal battle with the Ghana Private Lotto Operators Association.
Mr Amoako said the activities of some of the banker-to-banker operators had deprived the government of substantial revenue since they did not pay taxes.
According to him, they used the draws of the week by the Department of National Lotteries to facilitate their private operations.
The regional auditor said the NLA had teamed up with the police to undertake similar operations in other parts of the region to bring offenders before the law.
He, therefore, advised private operators in their own interest to register with the NLA to avoid prosecution.
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