In China and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate has reportedly announced that it prosecuted 46,575 people over the course of the first six months of 2021 for gambling-related crimes.
According to a report from GGRAsia, the Sunday admission from the giant nation’s highest public prosecutorial office contained a revelation that 86.3% of these indictments had been for the ‘establishment of casinos’ without mentioning whether such enterprises had been online or land-based. The source detailed that the city of Macau is the only territory in China where traditional casino gambling of any kind is allowed although even this small jurisdiction, which was officially an outpost of Portugal until 1999, outlaws most forms of iGaming and sportsbetting.
Biennial balance:
The Chinese authority reportedly explained that the most recent six-month figure marked an increase of 27.7% when compared with the same period in 2019 although it did not release an analogous tally for the first half of last year. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate purportedly moreover explained that this two-year assessment had been made owing to the difficulty in recording such cases amid the turmoil caused by the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Illicit interest:
GGRAsia reported that it is also currently illegal to promote or market any form of gambling in China beyond the country’s pair of state-sponsored lottery games, which encompass the China Welfare Lottery and the China Sports Lottery. The source asserted that this prohibition furthermore applies to the plugging of gambling-friendly venues located outside of mainland China including those in neighboring Russia, Macau and Vietnam.
Annual account:
The Supreme People’s Procuratorate reportedly went on to disclose that 80,537 people had been prosecuted nationwide during the whole 2020 for engaging in gambling-related crimes, which had represented a decline of nearly 7.3 % when compared with 2019’s finishing tally of 86,843. The authority’s Sunday statement then purportedly praised the government’s move in amending the criminal code from March so as to allow for an increased crackdown on ‘Internet-based’ gambling activities and those found guilty of organizing or promoting outlawed domestic and overseas gaming activities.
Reportedly read a statement from the Supreme People’s Procuratorate…
“Gambling-related crimes have become increasingly Internet-based and developed in virtual formats. Internet-based gambling has been gradually replacing traditional bricks-and-mortar casinos in becoming a main format of crimes.”
Criminal connections:
The authority subsequently reportedly divulged that only two people had been prosecuted since the first day of March for ‘organizing participation in gambling outside the country’ although no further details were released. It then purportedly finished by contending that outlawed iGaming and cross-border gaming activities are usually linked with other forms of crime such as money laundering, unlawful detention, blackmail and illicit border crossings.
