About this app
What is Tapinata?
Cyprus is not the first market to consider whether to block its welfare recipients from using their benefits to gamble, Brazil introduced a similar ban in 2025.
During a session of the House Audit Committee last Thursday, members of parliament (MPs), the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission and the National Betting Authority (NBA) convened to discuss ways to identify and restrict gambling activity among GMI beneficiaries, as reported by Cyprus Mail.
While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.
About Tapinata
Rovito was among 22 people indicted in April in a federal case involving an alleged illegal gambling operation in northwest Indiana.
Prosecutors charged him with operating an illegal gambling business and conspiracy to collect extensions of credit by extortionate means. The indictment alleges that the operation involved sports betting and the collection of gambling debts.
Rovito has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court. His attorney has disputed the government’s allegations, claiming that the indictment does not allege his client collected money, made any threats, or directed other defendants to do so.
What is Tapinata?
Chumba Casino, VGW’s flagship brand, says in its Sept. 16 updated terms and conditions that the platform is not available in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Washington, and West Virginia.
While Alabama ranks 27th among the 50 states in population, the limited availability of gaming makes the state attractive to companies like VGW.
Alabama has only parimutuel betting, small games of chance for charitable purposes, and electronic bingo machines at three tribal casinos in Atmore, Montgomery, and Wetumpka.
