Chinese students face legal repercussions for allegedly promoting illegal gambling

A group of Chinese students were brought before a judge last week for their participation in promoting unlawful wagering activities in the Philippines. Intriguingly, these students assert that their own school may have facilitated their participation in this illegal activity.

Several individuals affiliated with the Changde Cruise Attendants Vocational School in Xinyang, Henan province, China, were apprehended by law enforcement authorities in 2021. These students were charged with promoting an international wagering operation, but they were released on parole until their court dates.

Last week marked their return to court, where two of the students were sentenced to a minimum of eight months and a maximum of one year in prison. Their conviction was based on the allegation that they promoted wagering at an unnamed Philippines casino.

As the accused students presented their side of the story, however, a shocking development occurred. They claimed that the school had orchestrated their participation in a program that they believed to be legitimate. In this program, they were entrusted with promoting video games for a Filipino corporation, oblivious to the fact that it was connected to an illegal wagering operation. It appears that numerous pupils from the same institution participated in this program, only to face similar legal consequences.

Deng Guangzhou, the school’s principal, vehemently refuted any knowledge of the illegal nature of the program. According to Deng, a firm in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, devised the scheme, which he believed to be a legitimate employment opportunity. He did acknowledge that students were responsible for covering their own tuition, fees, and travel visas, totaling approximately CNY10,500 (1,442 USD). Nonetheless, he stated that the institution was no longer involved. In contrast, the students asserted that they were required to pay the school CNY10,000 (US$1,374) in order to partake in the program, creating a conspicuous discrepancy with the principal’s account.

In light of their predicament, the legal counsel for the students has filed an appeal against the charges, requesting that the verdicts be reconsidered.

These recent sentences are only the top of the iceberg in a succession of prosecutions involving at least a dozen pupils from the same school who participated in this program in the Philippines. Notably, another student from the school endured a similar legal ordeal in August, receiving a one-year prison sentence for promoting unlawful wagering and luring individuals to gamble. Investigations revealed that this student worked for a Manila-based wagering organization from 2018 to 2020, where he was responsible for soliciting Chinese participants to gamble on the platform and reportedly earned approximately CNY160,000 (US$22,000).

As reported by the Chinese news agency ThePaper.cn, a Xinyang court issued a similar eight-month suspended sentence in March. These ongoing legal conflicts involving the school have raised important concerns regarding the institution’s role in facilitating such activities and its connection to the legal troubles of the students.

Original story by: Casino.org