BEIJING, July 13 (Xinhuanet) -- Gambling on World Cup games has exploded across the country, taking place both on and offline. To curb illegal gambling, police have launched a massive crackdown to bust up criminal rings.
When police in east China’s Jiangsu province found Mr. Wang embezzling over 4 million yuan from his company to bet on World Cup games, they also uncovered a gambling website based in the Philippines...which has been active during the World Cup.
"There are many different ways for them to bet, all different kinds," said Lianyungang police Wang Yong.
The website requires its members to link their bank cards with the website, and gets a commission from each transaction. It has also recruited a large number of intermediaries to help out with the illegal gambling network.
A further police investigation led to a multi-provincial joint operation, which eventually busted a massive gambling network. The massive gambling network raked in over 200 million yuan in just 6 months.
"The money couldn’t be remitted abroad using normal means. So it has to go to the website’s partners first, and they launder the money through underground exchangers, and then send it overseas using fake trades," Wang said.
The crackdown is part of a nationwide police operation against illegal gambling on soccer games. Police have already busted 10 major gambling rings, arresting dozens of suspects.
According to researchers who specialize in China’s gambling and lottery market, this year’s World Cup season has witnessed the most gambling activity in a decade. And Asia is the hottest spot in the world.
"For the past few months , the Ministry of Public Security has dispatched police to monitor, investigate and crackdown on soccer gambling. Our focus is on Chinese agents who work for international gambling websites," said Security Admin. Bureau Chief of Ministry of Police Security Liu Shaowu.
And the police have good reason to enforce this crackdown....while some people believe online gambling is harmless, police warn that it can have devastating effects.
In Mr. Wang’s case, his life took a sudden turn for the worse after he became addicted to online gambling. He lost the family’s life savings, on top of the 4 million yuan he embezzled from his company.
"They won’t let you lose all the time. If I had kept losing, I would have pulled back. They let you win occasionally...like...if you have lost 100 thousand, you may win back 60 thousand or 50 thousand. But when you bet again, you will lose it all. So it’s a vicious cycle. Before I have won as much as 1.8 million. But in the end I lost it all," he said.
It’s estimated that every year, tens of billion yuan leaves China through online gambling rings, causing great harm to the economy. The gambling has even left some private companies bankrupt, forcing them to shut down.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
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