CHN: Twenty jailed in internet gambling case
16 Feb 2009 2:18 AM
SHANGHAI, Feb 15 AFP - A Chinese court has jailed 20 people in what is thought to be the country's biggest online gambling case, state media reported.
The Shanghai Putuo District People's Court sentenced ringleader Qian Baochun, 41, on Sunday to six years and ordered him to pay a fine of five million yuan ($A1.13 million) for establishing gambling websites, the Xinhua news agency said.
Nineteen other men were handed prison terms ranging from one to five years and fines of 20,000 yuan to one million yuan ($A4430 to $A222,000), according to the report.
"This is possibly the country's biggest online gambling case," court spokesman Zhang Minxian said.
The gang started business during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, Xinhua said.
The court heard Qian and two others opened accounts on overseas gambling websites and began to develop a network of agents and gamblers, earning 1.6 million yuan ($A355,000) from wagers, the report said.
