Villongo is a village in Bergamo province with a population of slightly more than 8,000 people. The Lombardy municipality spent the most money on internet gambling in 2022, totaling over 22 million euros. A fascinating case emerges from the "Black Book of Gambling - the rapid expansion of internet gambling in Italy. Mafias, employees, and young people," according to a study conducted by Federconsumatori in collaboration with the CGIL using Customs and Monopolies Agency data. According to the Italian newspaper Il Giorno, "if in Lombardy the annual average per capita expenditure in the age group between 18 and 74 was 1,287 euros, in this small reality sixty kilometers from Milan it was around 4 thousand euros per person". "In this town, a turnover of €22 million was counted in 2022," says Massimiliano Vigarani, statistical consultant and research author. "And these results cannot be explained by the presence of any superstars on-site. Apparently, something else is at play, as the number of plays would have been 11 million lower in 2023 than they were in 2022. One wonders why there was such an unusual flow of plays". The mayor, Francesco Micheli, expressed surprise: "When I have this data accessible, it will be my job, as well as that of the social services, to study it thoroughly. As far as we know, and based on the offices' daily data, there is no evidence of gambling-related difficulties. We will investigate and, if necessary, take appropriate corrective action".
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