Recently, Thai police successfully cracked a criminal case providing technical support to a transnational online gambling platform, arresting four Chinese programmers suspected of participating in gambling crimes. This case reveals the vast technical black industry chain behind online gambling.
The four suspects entered Thailand with a 60-day tourist visa and changed their identities to students at a Buddhist university in Buddha Thong Prefecture by forging documents, thus concealing their real professions.
Police found several gambling platform management backends in the computers seized at their residence, confirming they were responsible for developing and maintaining the gambling systems.
The investigation showed that the gang was remotely controlled by a Chinese named Michael, providing technical support for multiple transnational gambling websites. Their luxurious lifestyle (renting high-end apartments for 9400 yuan per month) attracted police attention, eventually leading to the case being solved.
Huge profits:
Monthly salary up to 50,000 USD (about 360,000 RMB)
Single project bonus up to 200,000 RMB
Annual income estimated over 3 million RMB
Legal consequences:
According to relevant provisions of China's Criminal Law:
Article 303: The crime of opening a gambling house, punishable by up to 10 years in prison
Article 305: The crime of organizing overseas gambling, punishable by up to 5 years in prison
Article 306: Providing technical support for gambling, treated as the crime of opening a gambling house
Some might think: I'm just providing technical support, technology is neutral, and has nothing to do with gambling itself. So, is providing technical support illegal?
The answer is affirmative. Even if you only provide technical support for a gambling platform and do not directly participate in the operation of gambling, if the technology you provide can be used for crime and you profit from it, you will still be considered as participating in illegal activities. For example, programmers profit by writing "gambling software," undoubtedly violating relevant Chinese laws.
