Chinese soccer fans regularly follow matches in the English Premier League. (Photo : www.thefiscaltimes.com)
Chinese policemen re-affirm that the country is still not tolerating illegal soccer betting for the ongoing World Cup 2014 games.
Guangdong provincial department of social security director Zheng Zehui said that authorities have been probing illegal betting after reports that online soccer gambling has sparked in the country.
Illegal soccer betting has been on the rise and was reported to be abundant in cities near the Pearl River Delta. The illegal gambling activities started after the 2014 World Cup games kicked off last June 13.
Zheng said on Wednesday during a media briefing that anybody caught organizing online soccer betting illegally during the World Cup games will violate important laws in the country. He said that the Chinese police will not sit back and watch.
Furthermore, Zheng said that Chinese authorities will be conducting special efforts to crack down on various illegal gambling activities led by key members, beneficiaries, bankers and gambling groups.
An increasing number of illegal soccer betting online has been revealed across China since the start of the year.
Guangzhou police has already arrested a total of 42 suspects after conducting a raid on a major online gambling ring in Panyu last May 25. At the time, the UEFA Champions League Final was on.
Also during that time, the authorities have sequestered 28 desktop computers and 17 laptops used for illegal online betting. They also seized 4 iPads and a hefty number of credit cards that participants used. A total of 120 bank accounts were also froze totaled US$192,610.
The special operation on May 25 involved more than 200 police officials.
The leader of the gambling gang identified as Xie opened an online soccer betting website last April. He was then probed after being involved in illegal online betting for more than a decade.
Xie's web portal has received about 380 million yuan worth of soccer bets from April 1 to May 23. Police reports indicated that more than 100 local businessmen were suspected to have illegally bet on soccer games in the said site.
According to Zheng, the arrest has helped the province achieve the fight against illegal soccer gambling. He also added that the crackdown showed the determination of Chinese officials against the activity.
The fight against illegal soccer betting online has also expanded reaching their counterparts in Hong Kong and Macao, said Zheng.
Gambling gangs were also busted last June 7 in Shenzhen and Meizhou leading to the arrest of 66 suspects. Police also seized 66 bank accounts containing more than 6 million yuan used for the illegal betting activity. The said accounts were frozen as police were conducting further probe.
Major online soccer betting portals were also cracked down by authorities in Huizhou, Shantou, Foshan and Chaozhou.
From June 13, a total of 1,651 criminal gambling cases have been cracked down in Guangzhou, said Zheng. He also added that the continuous crackdown has knocked off online gambling that were once active in the province.
