Chinese police continue illegal gambling crackdown

The unrelenting pressure on both land and online gambling during the football World Cup – especially in Asia – has continued this week, with the Shanghai police reporting the arrest of 32 persons and the seizure of 2.4 million yuan ($386,400) in illegal wager funds.

11 main suspects among the 32 arrested were detained, with the rest released with fines.

A police spokesman revealed that the latest wave of arrests comes from busting an online gambling network focused on international football match outcomes. Along with the arrests and confiscations, the police froze 12 bank accounts.

The spokesman said Shanghai police were tipped off about the online gambling ring earlier this year and commenced investigations which showed that the principal suspects in the case had started opening accounts with foreign betting websites in 2013.

The three principals were not named, but police said they were aged 40 to 50 years old and were among those arrested in the weekend swoop as the main facilitators of illegal gambling by local punters.

Shanghai police report that so far this year 42 online gambling organisations have been broken up, with around 13.2 million yuan seized from 74 bank accounts in police actions.

In related news, police in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam have announced the deportation of 33 South Koreans convicted of operating online gambling services catering for their countrymen.

The publication Thanh Nien Daily says the Koreans were fined before being forced to leave the country on July 4.

Police revealed that they had put the online gambling ring under surveillance in June, assembling evidence of illegal gambling on sports, mainly football.

Following their arrest the Koreans admitted to police officials that they supplied online gambling facilities through a server operated in South Korea by the leader of the illegal enterprise, who was not named.

Bets and winnings were transferred through the local banking system.

The deported individuals claimed that they ran their operation abroad because the illegal service is subject to strict surveillance in their own country.

Last week, HCMC police arrested six Vietnamese people for organising online football betting services (see previous reports).