China and Taiwan worked together to disrupt the Golden Cruise casino online gambling site which was operating across the two countries’ borders. The site was using convenience store chains to process customer payments.
Taiwan’s Criminal Investigation Bureau and China’s Online Information Security Bureau announced that after a long-running investigation of the Golden Cruise Casino site, they had arrested four individuals.
The four are thought to have earned up to $3.3 million between January and October of last year by selling virtual credits that could be used at real-money online gambling sites.
According to Taiwan media reports, the Golden Cruise site posted a message that is was ceasing operations shortly after the arrests. The site lists a number of real-money online gambling operators it had partnered with, including Golden Club, Royal1688 Casino, Sun Game and PokerKing.
According to the Taiwan Central News Agency, the Golden Cruise Casino website is based in Taiwan, but its mainframe is in Canada and its customer service center located on the Chinese mainland.
Reports say that customers could make payments to the site via convenience store chains including 7-11, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK Mart, that appeared to be virtual points and credit exchange for legitimate online gaming sites.
