A superior court in Hong Kong has confirmed that the suspected webmaster of a range of online gambling sites has provided services to Chinese customers from a centre based in Myanmar. The verdict has just been determined, and as Xinhua, a Chinese news-agency reports, the online gambling webmaster has been sent to prison for a period of 8 years and fined 20 Million Yuan (approximately US $3 million).

Tam Chi-Wai first entered the gambling industry in 1999 when he opened up a casino-like house. Later on, he began developing an online gambling network which consisted of several online gambling websites, for which the computer servers used were located in Dongguan and Guangzhou of the Southern Guangdong Province.

The online gambling websites were significantly successful, one of which managing to attract 5198 subscribed users in less than one year (August 2006 - March 2007). During this period, Tam Chi-Wai raked in over 278 Million Yuan in profits and a turnover of 8.68 Billion Yuan from online gambling wagers.

Tam Chi-Wai’s online gambling network involved more than 3000 full time employees for managing and maintaining the websites. Its earnings were distributed to hundreds of different bank accounts located around the world in order to not attract attention to its illegality.

Since receiving his sentence, Tam Chi-Wai has appealed, yet the Provincial Court decided to maintain its original sentence. This is believed to be the biggest online gambling case ever to be taken to court in China. Other than state lotteries, online gambling in China is illegal, yet this case stands as proof that it is nevertheless widely popular.