Italian authorities have broken up an illegal online gambling business that handled daily bets worth €11.5m and allegedly had ties to organized crime groups.

On Wednesday, Italian authorities arrested 11 individuals, including Luigi Tancredi (pictured), the alleged ringleader. The investigation, which police dubbed The Imitation Game, resulted in the seizure of assets worth €10m, including arcades, restaurants, cars and corporate bank accounts.

The ring reportedly controlled some 12k online gaming and video lottery terminals in bars and gaming halls across the country. Police said the machines – which required a special password to access – offered unlimited stakes and paid better odds because the operators paid no taxes on the revenue.

Roma Today quoted police saying the machines allowed punters to access the DollaroPoker site, which was set up in Romania under the banner of Dollarobet SRL and operated from servers based in Tampa, Florida.