Illegal World Cup betting surged in Asia despite risks
HONG KONG — Illegal betting on World Cup matches surged across Asia during the month-long tournament even as punters risked arrest, or faced worse at the hands of bookmakers frequently linked…
HONG KONG — Illegal betting on World Cup matches surged across Asia during the month-long tournament even as punters risked arrest, or faced worse at the hands of bookmakers frequently linked to crime syndicates.Police in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and China -- including Hong Kong and the glitzy gambling hub Macau -- arrested more than 5,000 people during the global tournament which wrapped up earlier this month, according to Interpol.The raids, which Interpol helped coordinate, saw local police swoop on more than 800 illegal gambling dens which handled more than 155 million US dollars in bets, the international policing agency said Friday.The operation ran between June 11 and July 11, during a time when hundreds of millions of fans around the globe were glued to their television screens, following the action from the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa."The results we have seen are impressive," Jean-Michel Louboutin, Interpol's executive director for police services, said in a statement."As well as having clear connections to organised crime gangs, illegal soccer gambling is also linked with corruption, money laundering and prostitution."In Malaysia, illegal sports betting was prevalent partly due to easy access to bookies while some syndicates double as loan sharks in providing quick cash, but impose high compounding interest rates, to gamblers."There are a lot of bookies around, and some are getting as high as 40 percent commission from the bet they collected -- for every 10 dollars bet they collected, they get four dollars in return immediately," Philip Goh, treasurer of the Gamblers Rehab Centre (GRC), told AFP."The easy access to illegal bookies are making it convenient for people to participate in this illegal activity."Betting of all kinds is hugely popular across Asia with casino revenues in the former Portuguese colony of Macau now having overtaken Las Vegas and industry experts predicting the region will soon eclipse the US gaming market.Illicit gambling remains a problem even in Hong Kong a
last modification 2010-07-19 01:15:14
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