A total of 68 people in south China’s Guangdong Province have been sentenced to prison terms following the country’s largest i-gaming case.
Members of the gambling ring received between 17 months and nine years and were also ordered to pay fines ranging from CNY50,000 ($8,000) to CNY20m.
From March 2008 to April 2013, the gang illegally opened online casinos and took bets totalling $78bn, said the Liwan District people’s court in a statement.
55 of the group were found guilty of opening casinos, seven of gambling and six of both crimes.
The gambling ring has been described by prosecutors as being run like a pyramid selling scheme within a circle of friends and relatives.
All gambling is illegal on the Chinese mainland, unless in the form of a lottery.
