World Cup gambling operation smashed

• Source: Global Times
• [10:37 June 12 2010]
• Comments

By Tang Zhao

An illegal Internet-based soccer gambling network has been broken by the Pudong New Area Public Security Bureau before the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Police detained 12 suspects, including bookmakers and gamblers, the Shanghai Morning Post reported Friday. Three of those arrested were organizers of the ring, one of whom was the leader.

The break in the case came when police apprehended an unemployed soccer fan surnamed Chen, 41, on February 22 for gambling, and discovered he had an online account with the gambling ring with 100,000 yuan ($14,646) credit for betting on various ball games such as soccer, basketball and baseball.

On February 23, police arrested two gambling agents, one of whom had several accounts on other online gambling websites based on overseas servers.

The head of the ring, nicknamed Damao, fled Shanghai for Zhejiang Province when he lost communication with his two lieutenants. He returned to Shanghai on March 15, and was picked up by police two days later.

The police said that they will be particularly vigilant with regards to soccer-related and other Internet gambling during the World Cup.

Yao Jianguo, a senior lawyer from Shanghai Lawyer Specialized Service Network, told the Global Times that anyone involved in organized gambling operations could face three years' imprisonment as well as a fine.

"This kind of organized gambling is very different from small-scale private entertainment, such as playing mahjong or cards with family and friends for small stakes in private residences," Yao added.

On May 17, police in Liuzhou in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region detained 26 suspects involved in online gambling. The Liuzhou group was linked to the same website as that used by the Shanghai group, China News Service reported Friday.

Similar arrests and exposures of gambling rings related to the World Cup were also reported in Beijing by local media this week.