The prosecution of what is thought to be the largest case of alleged illegal online gambling in China began in Yunnan Province today, according to local newspaper Kunming Daily.
Twenty suspects are charged in Kunming People's Court with operating a gambling house that received more than 8.68 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) in wagers and 200 million yuan ($28.9 million) in profits.
Hong Kong brothers Tan Zhiwei and Tan Zhiman are alleged to have opened physical gambling houses in Myanmar in 1999 before developing an Internet betting network that used several websites whose servers were located in China's Guangdong Province. One of the websites had 5,198 registered users, according to reports.
Prosecutors say more than 3,000 people worked for the gambling network, and that there was a clear division of labor among the workers, specializing in such things as website maintenance, odds making, and money transferring.
Among the defendants is Kang Zhenglong, a former official of the Ruili branch of China Industrial and Commercial Bank, who is said to have opened hundreds of bank accounts for the operation.
The trial is still underway.