More Online Gambling Convictions In China
Published: Friday, April 29, 2005 Online-Casinos.com
MORE ONLINE GAMBLING CONVICTIONS IN CHINA
The risks of operating an Internet
gambling facility in a dangerous environment
The penalties for getting
caught gambling on the Internet in China were once again highlighted this week
in the latest reports from the Chinese media.
46 criminals involved in
14 cases of Internet gambling were sentenced in Shanghai's Jiading, Xuhui, Luwan
and Yangpu district courts.
They received terms from six months probation
to three years in prison and fines between 1,000 yuan (US$121) and 950,000 yuan
(US$114,873), the Shanghai Higher People's Court announced.
"The
criminals made money by running an online gambling site called Baccarat and organising
gamblers to play," said Gao Yuan, the spokesman of the court. "Large
amounts of money were involved."
One of the accuseds, Gan Jieqi
worked with Zhao Xin, Gu Jundong, Xu Ju, Zhao Feng and Qin Hongjian, currently
still at large, establishing several gambling houses in the Jiading District by
connecting them through the Internet to casinos in a hotel in Myanmar where Gan
had worked.
From last June to November, 17 gamblers visited the houses
and bet online. More than 80 million yuan (US$9.7 million) were won or lost.
On November 5 of last year, they were arrested by local police.
In
another online gambling case detected in the Xuhui District, tens of millions
of yuan were found to have been bet on soccer. Yuan Min, the owner of an IT company,
became the agent of an online soccer match last April and made money by attracting
Zhang Wenda, Tang Yanwei and Pan Tian to join the business and run the online
gambling.
The four criminals were sentenced to imprisonment for from
eight to 24 months and fined between 20,000 yuan (US$2,418) and 300,000 yuan (US$36,276).
