The South China Morning Post reports
- Operators are using internet platforms to connect gamblers, casinos and proxies, head of mainland prosecutor’s office says
- Macau police had arrested Suncity casino junket boss Alvin Chau Cheok-wa over alleged illegal gambling platform and encouraging mainlanders to bet online
Chinese prosecutors have indicated they are targeting online casinos after a growing number of operators allegedly used internet platforms to get around the country’s laws against gambling.
Miao Shengming, head of the first prosecutor’s office at the Supreme People’s Procuratorate, said on Monday that illegal gambling had evolved in the internet era.
“Criminals used the internet technology, such as software and platforms, to connect gamblers, casinos and their proxies,” he told a press conference.
Operators of online casinos attracted customers across China, with some having hundreds of thousands of members, he said.
It follows Sunday’s arrest in Macau of Alvin Chau Cheok-wa, head of Suncity Group, and 10 other people for alleged involvement in an illegal gambling platform outside the city and encouraging mainland Chinese to bet online. An arrest warrant had been issued for Chau two days earlier by mainland authorities.
Chau is accused of leading a syndicate that opened online gambling platforms abroad and arranged for Chinese nationals to gamble, lending them large sums and providing clearing services through an underground bank.
