Beijing court hands down sentences to 15 defendants, including a former exec director of Imperial Pacific Int’l

The former executive director of Imperial Pacific International Holdings Ltd., a corporation registered in Hong Kong, was one of fifteen defendants fined by a Beijing court for offenses related to gaming.

Cui Limei was found guilty of the “establishment of a casino” and was fined CNY 200,000 (US$27,968) in addition to an eight-year and six-month prison sentence. Other offenders received sentences ranging from one year and eight months to seven years and six months. They faced charges related to casino operations, illegal debt acquisition, and facilitating the unauthorized crossing of international borders.

According to corporate documents filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Cui Limei served as an executive director of Imperial Pacific International Holdings for a limited period, from June 15, 2020, to June 29, 2020. The company promoted the Imperial Palace Saipan casino resort, whose gaming license was revoked in April 2021.

The court’s statement indicated that Cui Limei and co-defendants, led by an individual identified as “Ji,” exploited “illicit profits” between 2008 and 2021, without specifying the non-Chinese nations used to route players. During this period, they were responsible for organizing and recruiting Chinese individuals from Beijing and other provincial towns to engage in overseas gambling. The suspects also faced charges of unlawful debt collection and residential burglary.

The court document revealed that the person with the surname “Ji” is the primary focus of another case. As of a filing on November 22, 2023, Imperial Pacific International Holdings, banned from trading on the Hong Kong stock market since April 1, 2022, is reportedly addressing two winding-up petitions, with hearings scheduled for January 2024.

Original story by: GGRAsia