Taiwan online gambling ring busted

The police in Taichung, a municipality located in central-western Taiwan, report busting an online gambling ring masquerading as a high-tech cloud computing company.

In the raid, 56 suspects were detained for questioning; including a 37-year-old woman surnamed Lin, whom investigators said was the leader of the operation, which catered mainly to Chinese punters in China and Southeast Asia.

Police spokesmen said that Lin used her IT and business experience, gained during her previous employment with an online gambling company, to start up and register the cloud computing front company earlier this year.

However, the real business of the organisation lay in operating online gambling websites that offered roulette, baccarat, sic bo, slot machines, lottery and sports betting, Taichung Sixth Police Precinct Chief Lin Shu-hui said.

The organisation was substantial; police reported seizing 245 desktop computer sets and seven notebook computers. Records seized show that the company had over 10,000 players on its books, and ran a VIP service for high rollers.

Police spokesmen revealed that records indicated that the ring generated turnover of over NT$ 100 million (US$3,16 million) in the four months it was operating.

“The company’s office was lavish and it was run like an established high-tech enterprise, with more than 200 employees working in three shifts,” Police Chief Lin Shu-hui said. “They were divided into customer service managers, information technology engineers, programmers, accountants and other specialists,” he added.

He said the company offered high wages with a guaranteed base salary for new staff of NT$40,000 per month.

Many of the employees are university graduates, with some holding master’s degrees, Lin Shu-hui said, adding that monthly bonuses and incentives meant that middle-level staff could earn as much as NT$100,000 per month.

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