Former IPI director sentenced for gambling-related crimes
A Beijing court has sentenced 15 people.
China.- A Beijing court has issued sentences to 15 people, including Cui Limei, a former executive director of IPI. The charges are related to various gambling offences. Cui Limei received an eight-year, six-month prison term and a CNY200,000 (US$27,968) fine for the crime of “establishment of a casino.”
The remaining 14 defendants received prison terms ranging from one year and eight months to seven years and six months. The charges include offences such as the establishment of a casino, “collection of illegal debt,” and “organizing people to illegally cross the national borders.”
The court said Cui Limei and others gained “illicit profits” from 2008 to 2021 by organising and soliciting Chinese citizens for gambling abroad, along with other crimes such as illegal entry into residences and the collection of illegal debt.
Cui Limei had a brief tenure as an executive director at IPI, serving from June 15, 2020, to June 29, 2020. The company is associated with the Imperial Palace Saipan casino resort, whose gaming licence has been suspended since April 2021.
Cui Limei is reported to be a sibling of Cui Lijie, who resigned as the company’s chairperson and executive director on June 4, 2021. IPI has faced trading suspension on the Hong Kong bourse since April 1, 2022, and is currently navigating two winding-up petitions scheduled for January 2024.
