Italy: Court confirms judicial administration for Saint-Vincent Casino
The Turin Court has confirmed the judicial administration of Casinò de la Vallée S.p.A. in Saint-Vincent. The judges rejected the company’s requests to have the preventive measure imposed on 28 May revoked or revised, leaving in place the supervision entrusted to professionals appointed by the court.
The decision followed a hearing held on 14 July before delegated judge Irene Gallesio. During the proceedings, the court reviewed a report filed at the end of June by judicial administrators Corradino Corradi and Ivano Berardi, who were appointed to assess the state of the casino’s internal controls and the measures introduced since the procedure began.
The remediation process remains incomplete
The court’s decision does not suspend the casino’s operations, nor does it transfer full control of the business to the court-appointed professionals. The casino remains operational, while day-to-day management continues to rest with the company’s corporate bodies.
The judicial administrators’ role focuses primarily on strengthening anti-money laundering safeguards, organisational frameworks, and internal control procedures. Initially imposed for one year and subject to extension, the measure therefore takes the form of targeted supervision in the areas where the most significant weaknesses have been identified.
Casinò de la Vallée had sought a review of the order, arguing that the disputed incidents were attributable to the conduct of several employees who were subsequently dismissed. According to the company’s position, those individuals had acted in breach of internal procedures that were already in place.
The court, however, concluded that the organisational strengthening and “self-cleaning” process launched by the casino had not yet been completed. In other words, the formal existence of rules and protocols was not regarded as sufficient grounds for bringing the supervisory phase to an end.
The corruption and money laundering investigation
The judicial administration was imposed as part of an investigation coordinated by the Aosta Public Prosecutor’s Office and carried out by the Guardia di Finanza’s Economic and Financial Police Unit. The inquiry concerns an alleged corruption and money laundering network centred on the casino in the Aosta Valley. A total of 33 people are under investigation, while the inquiry has already led to the seizure of assets and financial holdings worth approximately €5 million.
The allegations remain at the investigative stage and will need to be tested during the judicial process. No final ruling has been issued, and the presumption of innocence therefore remains fully applicable to everyone involved.
According to reports published after the original measure was imposed, the judges also focused on what Italian law describes as an “organisational failure”. The issue under scrutiny would not be limited to the alleged conduct of individual employees, but would also concern the company’s ability to identify warning signs and activate appropriate controls when unusual transactions or behaviour emerge.
A new governance structure for the casino
Alongside the judicial proceedings, Casinò de la Vallée has changed its governance structure. The former sole director has been replaced by a three-member board of directors. The change at the top represents one stage in the wider restructuring process, but leaves an operational question unresolved: how responsibilities will be divided between the new board and the two judicial administrators.
Following the hearing, the company said the court-appointed professionals had asked for a clearer definition of their remit in coordination with the new governing body. The aim is to distinguish responsibility for ordinary management from the work still required to complete the strengthening of the casino’s prevention and control systems. Casinò de la Vallée also reiterated its cooperation with judicial authorities and administrators, confirming its intention to continue its work on governance, compliance, and internal controls.
A precedent for Italy’s land-based gaming sector
The Saint-Vincent case carries significance well beyond the borders of the Aosta Valley. Based on the information released when the measure was first imposed, it is the first case in Italy in which judicial administration has been ordered for a casino. For the land-based gaming industry, the case raises broader questions about the practical effectiveness of anti-money laundering systems. Attention is no longer focused solely on whether manuals, procedures, or organisational models exist, but also on how they are applied in everyday operations and on whether companies can respond effectively to risk indicators.
Gaming operators are among the entities subject to anti-money laundering obligations. The framework is based on customer due diligence, the retention of relevant information and the reporting of suspicious transactions. For casinos, transaction traceability and the ability to link customer identities to their financial activity are central elements of the control system. In recent years, Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit, the UIF, has also repeatedly drawn the gaming industry’s attention to the need for effective active cooperation and high-quality suspicious transaction reports. In December 2025, the UIF organised a dedicated initiative for gaming operators alongside representatives of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the Guardia di Finanza and the Italian Customs and Monopolies Agency.
The Casinò de la Vallée case therefore highlights the potential gap between compliance on paper and compliance in practice. An organisational model is not enough when the safeguards it contains fail to produce timely controls, effective information flows and clearly allocated responsibilities.
The 11 September deadline
The next decisive stage is scheduled for 11 September. By that date, a proposal must be submitted that defines the functions of the judicial administrators and identifies the additional steps required to complete the organisational reforms and improvements to the prevention framework.
Based on that document, the court will be able to decide whether to maintain the current arrangement or revise the measure. The outcome will therefore depend on the company’s progress and on the new board’s ability to demonstrate that the controls introduced are effective, verifiable, and permanently embedded in the casino’s management structure.
In the criminal proceedings, another date to watch is 29 July, when an evidentiary hearing is due to take place concerning the extraction of files from devices seized during the investigation. That process could provide investigators with further material and influence the subsequent development of the proceedings.
The confirmation of judicial administration does not bring the Saint-Vincent case to a close. Instead, it opens a new phase in which attention will shift to the casino’s ability to address the identified weaknesses and rebuild a governance system capable of preventing, detecting, and managing risk.
This article was first published on the Italian SiGMA News page on 15 July 2026.
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