Atypical exploitance relationships between firms and criminal organizations: a case study from the video poker industry

The area of legal business is considered by criminal organizations as a way to launder money, but also as an opportunity to enter (and to be legitimized into) the legitimate world and to make further profits. This is due in particular to the strong ties characterizing criminal organizations and legitimate players. Actually, this kind of relationship is something peculiar to criminal organizations and mafia in particular. The reason why Italian mafia has been operating for 200 years stands not only in the use of violence, but also in the capacity to be part of the legitimate world. Mafia has been accepted and sometimes used by political and economic power during these two centuries.