Thursday, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the Yunnan High Court upheld an eight-year sentence and $1.9 million fine for Internet-gambling operator Tam Chi-Wai. Tam was originally sentenced in June by a lower court for running China’s largest illegal online-gaming operation to date.

Hong Kong native Tam ran a syndicate that employed some 3,000 people and netted nearly $1.25 billion in total profits. Xinhua reported that he evaded capture by hiding the money in clean bank accounts, eventually attracting 5,198 registered users at one site alone between August 2006 and March 2007.

The illegal business was Tam’s second forray into the gambling world after his 10-year stint as a casino owner in Myanmar. Myanmar borders Yunnan province and provides a legal haven for Chinese gamblers to place bets as gambling is outlawed in China.

Xinhua reported no further details in the case and, at the time this article was published, had not specified when the ruling in Tam’s case took place.

Source:http://www.gamblingplanet.org/