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Police in the Chinese province of Jiangsu have busted a massive illegal online gambling ring believed to have handled more than CNY7.8 billion (approximately $1.1 billion) in wagers over the course of several years.
Local news outlet Xinhua reported, citing information released by police over the weekend, that an investigation into the illegal operation was originally launched in January 2016 and 56 individuals have been arrested for suspected involvement since then. The probe was spurred by sources who reported to police officers about the illegal gambling website.
With very few exceptions, gambling is illegal across China. However, operators of illegal gambling operations have been circumventing existing prohibitions for years, becoming more and more resourceful in their approaches to Chinese customers.
In the case of the Jiangsu illegal gambling ring, those involved were found to have operated a betting website the servers of which were based in the Philippines. Locating an illegal operation abroad is a traditional practice among operators of illegal betting and gaming websites.
As mentioned above, as many as 56 individuals were arrested on illegal gambling charges over the course of the investigation. According to police records, the gambling ring earned more than CNY650 million in profits.
The betting website was based in the Philippines and had more than 114,000 registered customers. Four prime suspects were identified through bank card information, Xinhua reported earlier today.
INTERPOL-Led Operation Busts Thousands of Illegal Gambling Dens
INTERPOL said in a Friday press release that an operation led by the organization and conducted jointly with police authorities from the Asia-Pacific region was concluded with 14,900 raids being carried out at illegal gambling dens over the course of this year’s World Cup.
Launched on June 22, operation SOGA VII aimed to detect and bust illegal gambling operations across the region. Football has long had a massive following in Asian-Pacific countries and betting on football matches has been growing in popularity, despite the fact that the activity is strictly prohibited in most of these countries.
The month-long operation resulted in more than 1,000 computers and other equipment as well as more than $1.7 million in cash being seized. It is believed that the busted illegal gambling rings handled over $1.6 billion worth of bets over the course of the major football championship.
The widespread penetration of smart technologies across the region and the smaller time differences between Russia, where the World Cup was held this year, and Asian-Pacific countries contributed to a considerable increase in betting activity during the tournament, experts have said. Aside from China, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Singapore too, saw massive betting volumes during the championship this year.
Police and other parties involved in joint efforts to crack down on the illegal provision of gambling services have confirmed that there has been a rapid transition from wagering at physical premises to sophisticated Internet operations and that has made their work much more difficult.
The post Jiangsu Police Bust Sophisticated $1-Billion Illegal Gambling Operation appeared first on Casino News Daily.
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