“Legal Challenges Presented by Online Gambling”

The rapid expansion of online gambling is presenting a real legal challenge to law enforcement agencies around the world. Recently, China has had to contend with several cases of online gambling crimes.

35% of gambling convictions issued are for online gambling, according to the Beijing People’s Prosecutors Office. One case last year involved a man who set up a local agency for a Taiwan-based gambling company, a company which established the Baoyong Website and made a profit of 140,000. The Yangpu District Prosecutor’s Office arrested him for organizing online soccer betting. Another case involved Feng Zaisheng, who was ultimately sentenced to 2-1/2 years in jail by the Shanghai Number 1 Intermediate People’s Court. Zaisheng, a native of Taiwan and a leader on the online gambling scene, was the first person to be convicted of this kind of crime in Shanghai.

Betting on soccer games is the biggest online gambling activity in China, but card games are popular there as well. Obviously, being harder to detect and track, and also more convenient, people prefer online gambling to traditional casino gambling. There are no limitations on time or space, and the profits are higher – all reasons for the attractiveness of online gambling, according to spokesman for the People’s Prosecutor’s Office Zhu Bochen. Nevertheless, the legal issues are there. This year alone saw 56 people involved in 17 gambling cases being charged for online gambling crimes.