Philippine illegal online gambling network busted

Chinese police forces raided a Philippines-based illegal online gambling ring after a three-month investigation.

China.- Polices authorities announced they have 19 suspects under custody for allegedly running a Philippines-based illegal online gambling network.

Three network’s organisers are among the suspects under arrest. According to the police they originally established servers and payment processing channels in Malaysia, along with over 30 affiliate companies to promote the gambling services. The Chinese authorities’ crackdown in Malaysia forced the operators to move its servers to the Philippines.

After a three-month probe conducted by police in Loudi City, southwest of the provincial capital of Changsha, officials followed a tip-off from two Loudi residents who declared that they had lost money with an illegal lottery website. One of the witness said he had lost as much as RMB 80k (US$12,300) in just five days.

It is still unclear if the customers who tipped-off the police were cheated or if they simply lost. Chinese police forces busted a number of rigged online gambling sites based in Asian countries. Some of these websites lure in gamblers allowing them to win small amounts whilst encouraging them to make larger wagers, after which the games would be rigged to ensure customers had no chance of winning losing larger amounts of money.

Officials declared that the network of illegal sites operated by the ring boasted over 10k customers who reportedly wagered over RMB 300 million (US$46.2 million) on the websites since the operation was launched in 2014. Police authorities have frozen more than 200 bank accounts connected to the network. Police officers also seized more than 100 computers and, oddly enough, 11 limousines.