[4] Compiled from: Red Star News
 
Case review
On the evening of November 26, Zhou Zhuohua (nicknamed "Ximi Hua"), a Macau gambling tycoon, was approved for arrest by the Wenzhou People's Procuratorate in Zhejiang Province. Wenzhou police issued a notice urging Zhou Zhuohua to surrender as soon as possible for lenient treatment. On November 27, the Macau Special Administrative Region police lawfully brought the suspect Zhou Zhuohua and other involved individuals to the police station for investigation.

 
 

It has been established that since 2007, Zhou Zhuohua contracted gambling halls in casinos in Macau and elsewhere, and in 2016, he set up online gambling platforms in the Philippines and other locations. To seek illegal profits, Zhou Zhuohua developed individuals within China as shareholder-level agents and gambling agents, using methods such as high credit limits, promoting gambling services, providing vehicle transportation, and technical support to organize Chinese citizens to gamble in his contracted overseas gambling halls and participate in cross-border online gambling activities. He established asset management companies in China to facilitate gamblers exchanging assets for gambling chips, assist in debt collection, and help clients with cross-border fund transfers. He also used illegal channels like underground banks to provide fund settlement services for gamblers, gradually forming a cross-border gambling criminal group led by Zhou Zhuohua, with Zhang Ningning and others as core members, featuring fixed personnel, clear hierarchies, and a large number of participants.
 
As of July 2020, the cross-border gambling criminal group led by Zhou Zhuohua had developed 199 shareholder-level agents, over 12,000 gambling agents, and more than 80,000 gambling member clients within China, involving an exceptionally large amount of money, severely disrupting China's social management order.

 
 

 
Article 303 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China
Whoever, for the purpose of profit, gathers people to gamble or makes gambling a profession shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined.
 
Whoever operates a gambling establishment shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, or public surveillance, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious, the sentence shall be fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years, and a fine shall also be imposed.
 
Organizing citizens of the People's Republic of China to participate in gambling abroad, if the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

 
 

 
[1] The author's perspective
As is well known, operating casinos and gambling in the Macau Special Administrative Region is regulated by relevant laws, but in other regions of China, it is not permitted by law. Although the suspect in this case, Zhou Zhuohua, is a Macau resident, he established a cross-border gambling criminal group, illegally organized Chinese citizens to travel abroad for gambling in casino halls, and also participated in cross-border online gambling activities. According to the above legal provisions, it is clear that any of these actions is illegal. Moreover, based on the police briefing information, the number of people he recruited is large, and the amount involved is particularly huge, seriously disrupting the country's social management order.
 
This case not only tells us that gambling domestically is illegal but also emphasizes that organizing participation in overseas gambling is illegal. Therefore, even individuals legally engaged in the gaming industry in Macau must strictly comply with the relevant laws and regulations of the country and Macau. Once suspected of violating legal provisions, they will be investigated and dealt with according to the law without leniency.