Massive World Cup Betting RIng Busted in Macau

Friday June 20,2014 : MASSIVE WORLD CUP FOOTBALL GAMBLING RING BUST IN MACAU
 
Police shut down $645 million illegal enterprise.
 
In one of the biggest illegal gambling busts yet seen in World Cup football, police in Macau announced the shuttering of a HK$ 5 billion ($645 million) illegal gambling ring Friday.
 
In one wager alone placed through the company $5.1 million was risked.
 
The Agence France Presse reports that 22 individuals were arrested during the police operation
 
"Records showed that [betting] had reached HK$5 billion. It has already surpassed the biggest betting case in history," Suen Kam-fai, a spokesman for the Macau police told Hong Kong's Cable News channel.
 
The spokesman revealed that more than HK$2 million (US$258,029) in cash was found in Macau hotel rooms that served as the ring's operating base, along with computers, records and other items…and officers found evidence of one $5.1 million bet.
 
Those arrested included four Hong Kong residents, nine Malaysians and nine persons from the Chinese mainland, the South China Post reported.
 
AFP notes that Doha-based watchdog International Centre for Sport Security warned in a May 2014 report that Asian-dominated criminal groups are laundering more than US$140 billion in illegal sports betting annually.