China has launched a major probe into an illegal online gambling network with more than 1,000 suspects detained
“It is, so far, the largest online gambling case that has ever been cracked on the mainland since the founding of People’s Republic of China in 1949 according to statistics revealed by the Ministry of Public Security,” said Lu Feng, director of the general office for the Guangdong provincial department of public security.
According to officials, 1,071 suspects were detained—the largest number on record—and 333 million yuan ($52.8 million) was seized, the most gambling money ever seized in a single case.
That money was seized from bank accounts that belonged to members of the ring. Lu said that police also seized a large number of computers and servers, along with phones, cars, bank cards and business records.
Most of the suspects were gang members, bankers and technicians who developed and worked on the online sites.
The operation was codenamed “221” and began in the cities of Shantou and Chaozhou on December 21 after months of investigation, officials said.
The network saw more than 400,000 people illegally betting on more than 200 different websites and platforms, Chinese officials said.
Many of the computer servers were operated overseas. The main operation involved allowing gamblers to wager on the results of China’s state-run welfare and sports Lotteries. While most gambling is illegal on mainland China, the state-run lotteries are an exception.
Meanwhile, Beijing also announced it is tightening restrictions on internet lottery sales
A directive from China’s central government Ministry of Finance advised companies selling tickets online for Chinese sports and welfare industries that they must be approved by three different Ministries.
The Ministry of Finance directs that the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the General Administration of Sport and the Ministry of Finance must all grant approval before any company is authorized to sell online tickets, according to Chinese media reports.
“The Ministry of Finance pointed to “rampant irregularities” in online lottery sales and said that lottery sales organizations have also entrusted Internet companies with sales services without official authorization,” the China Daily reports.
