Kenyan gambling operators owe the government over a quarter of a billion dollars and these operators’ foreign execs risk deportation if they don’t pay up.

On Monday, Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i (pictured) told a Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) stakeholders meeting that the local gambling industry owes the government Ksh26b (US$257.2m) in unpaid taxes.

The Star quoted Matiang’i saying efforts by the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) to collect this unpaid sum “have not been fruitful because the key industry operators have found refuge in judicial processes where all manner of court orders are sought and issued.” Matiang’i doubled down on his threat to revoke the license of any operator that fails to demonstrate their tax compliance by July 1.

Earlier this month, the KRA reported that it was trying to collect a back-tax bill of Ksh14.9b from Kenya’s leading betting operator SportPesa. The KRA has accused SportPesa of failing to collect a 20% tax on gamblers’ winnings, while the company claims its hands are tied by legal challenges of the winnings tax filed by one of its customers.