HK police smash huge World Cup betting ring
By James Pomfret |
00:00 UTC+8 July 10, 2010
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HONG Kong police have smashed a vast, cross-border bookmaking syndicate in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province in southern China targeting the soccer World Cup which had taken in around 7 billion yuan (US$1.03 billion) of illegal bets.
The Hong Kong police said 74 people were arrested in Hong Kong and 29 in Guangdong during the operation code-named "Copperflame," mounted in cooperation with police in the province.
Investigators said it was the largest syndicate of its kind to be smashed by police in the financial hub.
The people were suspected of committing bookmaking crimes, with the seizure of betting records worth around 7 billion yuan along with illegal gambling-related items, police said.
The syndicate collected predominantly online bets from punters.
The lion's share of the bets were believed to have been wagered on soccer matches, with the World Cup now taking place in South Africa.
Police investigations found evidence that the syndicate had used more than 400 bank accounts in Hong Kong and in Chinese mainland to launder their gambling proceeds.
Earlier this week, mainland police smashed a secretive, online betting network, with the alleged ringleader "Dark Brother" accused of dealings worth 100 billion yuan.
It was not immediately clear if this criminal gang was linked in any way to the syndicate broken up by the Hong Kong police.
The Hong Kong police said 74 people were arrested in Hong Kong and 29 in Guangdong during the operation code-named "Copperflame," mounted in cooperation with police in the province.
Investigators said it was the largest syndicate of its kind to be smashed by police in the financial hub.
The people were suspected of committing bookmaking crimes, with the seizure of betting records worth around 7 billion yuan along with illegal gambling-related items, police said.
The syndicate collected predominantly online bets from punters.
The lion's share of the bets were believed to have been wagered on soccer matches, with the World Cup now taking place in South Africa.
Police investigations found evidence that the syndicate had used more than 400 bank accounts in Hong Kong and in Chinese mainland to launder their gambling proceeds.
Earlier this week, mainland police smashed a secretive, online betting network, with the alleged ringleader "Dark Brother" accused of dealings worth 100 billion yuan.
It was not immediately clear if this criminal gang was linked in any way to the syndicate broken up by the Hong Kong police.
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