CRI听力:Police Crack down on Overseas Gambling Site

Police in northeast China's Heilongjiang province have broken up a multinational gambling ring involving a website in the Philippines that has attracted Chinese gamblers.

They have seized more than 80 million yuan in gambling funds and frozen bank accounts with funds totaling 230 million yuan.

The police in Mudanjiang city first received reports from whistleblowers about the gambling mega-den in February 2014.

An investigation showed that gambling activities were manipulated by a group named "Dafa 888" in the Philippines.

Established in 2002, the group has operated online gambling in several Asian countries.

Police say the group has attracted gamblers from more than 10 provinces in China.

Sun Yaowu with the public security department of Heilongjiang says they discovered that it was a Philippines-based gambling den that targeted the Chinese mainland to attract gamblers.

"Their main server is located in the Philippines and they have financial managers and agencies in China. Through 2,000 bank cards, around 20 million yuan flows outbound every day."

Police have extradited the main suspect in the case, Wang Bo from the Philippines to China on Saturday, which marks a crucial step in the investigation.

Wang Bo says he was cheated by the gambling website.

"They said they were a gaming company. But after undergoing training, I found that they are operating gambling games. I felt cheated and asked some Chinese staff in the company, they told me the company was legally registered in Philippines."

Wang Bo promises he will assist the police with further investigations.

The police have so far captured 125 suspects in connection with the case.

The gambling company that runs the website, dafabet.com, calls itself one of Asia's leading online betting and gaming sites.

China's police have blocked two gambling websites operating under dafabet.com that target Chinese gamblers, and attempts have been made to extradite six of the Chinese residents involved.

According to China's criminal law, gambling activities for the purpose of revenue generation are punishable by up to three years in prison and fines. Those who run casinos can be given a maximum of 10 years in prison plus fines.