The Chinese official news agency Xinhua reports that a 47-year-old Chinese man identified only as Zhou appeared before a court in the Zhejiang province Thursday charged with operating a cross-border illegal online gambling ring which allegedly had 2.04 million players on its books and generated 400 billion yuan in wagers since opening in June 2012 in Wenzhou.
Zhou and his associates made earnings of 580 million yuan from the enterprise, prosecutors claim.
The defendant moved the operation to Vietnam in May 2013, and was extradited from that country in April this year, along with eight associates who have already been jailed. Other members of the ring are still at large, the report notes.