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Man jailed for Chinese Internet gambling

by on20 November 2008

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Gets eight years


A Hong Kong man has been jailed for eight years in China for running the nation's biggest online gambling racket.

Chinese state media said that Tam Chi-Wai employed more than 3,000 people to run his illegal Websites and perform other duties, such as hiding the profits in clean bank accounts.

At its height, the scheme was netting more than $1.25 billion U.S. dollars in bets. Xinhua news agency said that the High Court in southwest China's Yunnan province upheld an eight-year sentence handed down by a lower court in June, and fined Tam $1.9 million U.S. dollars.
 
Tam's empire was created nearly 10 years ago in Myanmar, which borders Yunnan, and where many Chinese go to bet in casinos, as gambling is illegal in China, although extremely popular. The Internet gambling network used servers based in various southern Chinese cities.
Last modified on 21 November 2008
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