China cracks down on cross-border gambling

The Supreme People's Court has directed courts across the country to continue imposing harsh penalties on people involved in cross-border gambling crimes, with a focus on organizers, ringleaders and repeat offenders. The directive aims to prevent financial risks and safeguard economic security.

The top court highlighted the growing issue of overseas casinos and online gambling groups targeting Chinese citizens, saying that such activities lead to significant outflows of domestic funds and give rise to various other offenses, including kidnapping, illegal detention, fraud, extortion and money laundering.

"These crimes seriously affect social stability and economic security and damage the country's image," the court said, emphasizing the need for severe punishment of those involved.

In one case, a group of 34 individuals with a clear division of labor was penalized for operating illegal casinos and businesses. The group recruited thousands of agents to attract players and facilitated the participation of over 60,000 people in overseas gambling, illegally acquiring more than 8.9 billion yuan ($1.22 billion) through online platforms.

Between September 2018 and April 2020, the group's ringleader, identified only by the surname Zhang, was discovered to have used bank accounts from multiple agent holding companies under his control to facilitate cross-border fund transfers.

The Wenzhou Intermediate People's Court in Zhejiang province sentenced Zhang to seven years in prison for operating casinos and illegal business operations, along with a fine of 800,000 yuan. Other group members also received punishment and fines, and their illicit gains and equipment used for organizing the gambling were confiscated.

The top court praised the judgment, stating that Zhang deserved a severe penalty "as he was the principal criminal and his behavior seriously disturbed financial market order".

In another case, a court in Zhejiang sentenced the leader of a mafia-style organization, surnamed Yu, to life imprisonment for 26 crimes, including operating casinos and illegal detention. Yu and 65 associates were involved in over 170 criminal activities from 1995 to 2018. Between 2012 and 2017, the gang organized the smuggling of over 100 people into Laos for gambling, generating illicit gains exceeding 50 million yuan.

The top court endorsed the intensified crackdown on gambling that is organized by mafia-style gangs, noting that they not only profit illegally by operating casinos and facilitating illegal emigration but also use violence, threats and other means to collect gambling debts.

The Supreme People's Court has instructed courts nationwide to maintain robust efforts against gambling-related crimes and to be vigilant in identifying gambling activities during the handling of other cases, with the aim of curbing all criminal activities associated with gambling.