(KERO) — A multi-million dollar judgment against the maker of an unlawful gambling software is the latest victory in the decade-long battle.
Kern County District Attorney Cynthia Zimmer announced over the weekend her office along with several other D.A.s statewide and the Attorney General's Office secured a judgment against Pong Game Studios Corporation.
It's a company that licensed software to sweepstakes cafes throughout the state.
Under the terms Pong agreed to pay $3.5 million in civil penalties, costs and attorneys fees, and permanently halt its illegal gambling operations in California.
"Pong’s illegal devices and software have bred unregulated pop-up casinos that have been magnets for criminal activity wherever they have arisen,” said Zimmer in a statement.
Zimmer's office began its efforts to combat these illegal gambling dens in 2012 filing civil lawsuits against multiple Bakersfield-based sweepstakes cafes.
The American Gaming Association estimates that the sweepstakes cafe industry earns more than $10 billion a year through unlawful gambling operations nationwide.
