Duo collected 70m yuan from pyramid-style online scheme

Two gamblers who made more than 70 million yuan through a pyramid-style betting ring appeared in court on Wednesday accused of "running a casino".

Ben Fang and Chu Jianpeng, both 30, raked in the cash by wagering money on baccarat and introducing others to an online soccer gambling website, judges at Dongcheng district court heard.

Prosecutors said that Ben had made almost 70 million yuan from the pyramid system, while Chu collected 3.7 million yuan.

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The case is one of 21 involving online soccer gambling scheduled for trial at the district court. A total of 39 gamblers, who together earned 337.82 million yuan, have already been punished for betting on games during the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa since last December.

On Feb 14, a gang of 11 who made 43.5 million yuan in just over two years were tried in Dongcheng, with another case on Feb 18 involving three men and one woman who allegedly generated 44 million yuan from an online gaming website.

Beijing police kicked off two campaigns last year to round up gamblers profiting from betting websites during the World Cup, with 52 suspects detained.

"Online soccer gambling has now developed into a pyramid-like system, just like multi-level marketing," said Zhu Xiping, a judge at Dongcheng court on Wednesday.

Li Hongpeng, a lawyer from B & D Law Firm who is representing Ben and Chu, told METRO: "Online gambling is easy to participate in and hard to detect. Also, it attracts people from far away who can collect great amounts of money in a short time."

Ben, who started betting online on the suggestion of a classmate, lost roughly 300,000 yuan between December 2009 and April 2010. The website, which is believed to have been shut down, is estimated to have attracted up to 70 gamblers, said Li.

A survey by Fengtai district court found that online soccer gambling accounted for one-fifth of its cases last year. About 90 percent of offenders are males aged 25 to 30. The study discovered most of them usually use online banking services to transfer money, which increases the difficulty the police face in collecting evidence.

With Chinese gambling websites, multi-level agents are given cash rewards for introducing more gamblers. However, charging suspects with "running a casino" will come as a surprise to many. In the past, offenders were simply given a slap on the wrist and a short spell in custody.

"I never thought I'd be charged with running a casino. I didn't even know about that charge," Ben told the court. "I thought I'd face detention."

Running a casino is a new charge written into Criminal Law in 2006 and allows harsher penalties for those organizing gambling than those participating in it. Offenders face a maximum sentence of 10 years, plus fines.