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Defendants confess to soccer bets on Internet
By Xu Fang |
January 19, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
ALL 20 defendants in Shanghai's biggest online soccer gambling case admitted their guilt at a court hearing yesterday.
The betting stakes exceeded 6.6 billion yuan (US$965 million), and the gang earned more than 1.6 million yuan from illegal wagers between August 2006 and May 2008, prosecutors charged.
Due to the confessions, the Putuo District People's Court adopted simplified procedures that allowed a speedier trial. Even so, there was no immediate verdict at the end of the one-day hearing.
All the defendants are local natives except for one from Fujian Province and one from Anhui Province. The defendants, led by 41-year-old Qian Baochun, were charged with operating three betting clubs that were linked to overseas soccer gambling Websites, one of which was in Macau.
Qian and Zou Jun, 45, told the court they obtained accounts allowing them to place bets on those sites from friends and started their own online operation when the 2006 World Cup was held in Germany, prosecutors said.
The pair conspired with six other defendants to develop a network of agents and gamblers and to hire people to help run the operation, according to prosecutors.
During the period, some of the eight original "investors," whose share of earnings was based on the amount of investment, quit because they "realized they were in an illegal and dangerous business," according to court testimony. The other defendants were either agents or people hired to operate the scheme.
Prior to this case, the previous record holder came to a conclusion in March 2007, when the Luwan District People's Court announced verdicts in an online soccer gambling scheme involving 5.25 billion yuan in stakes.
The betting stakes exceeded 6.6 billion yuan (US$965 million), and the gang earned more than 1.6 million yuan from illegal wagers between August 2006 and May 2008, prosecutors charged.
Due to the confessions, the Putuo District People's Court adopted simplified procedures that allowed a speedier trial. Even so, there was no immediate verdict at the end of the one-day hearing.
All the defendants are local natives except for one from Fujian Province and one from Anhui Province. The defendants, led by 41-year-old Qian Baochun, were charged with operating three betting clubs that were linked to overseas soccer gambling Websites, one of which was in Macau.
Qian and Zou Jun, 45, told the court they obtained accounts allowing them to place bets on those sites from friends and started their own online operation when the 2006 World Cup was held in Germany, prosecutors said.
The pair conspired with six other defendants to develop a network of agents and gamblers and to hire people to help run the operation, according to prosecutors.
During the period, some of the eight original "investors," whose share of earnings was based on the amount of investment, quit because they "realized they were in an illegal and dangerous business," according to court testimony. The other defendants were either agents or people hired to operate the scheme.
Prior to this case, the previous record holder came to a conclusion in March 2007, when the Luwan District People's Court announced verdicts in an online soccer gambling scheme involving 5.25 billion yuan in stakes.
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