Students from China Apprehended for Advocating for Prohibited Betting; Rumors Suggest School Complicity
A few Chinese students were convicted in a recent court hearing for earlier charges related to promoting gambling in the Philippines. They alleged that the school had set them up to participate in the illicit program.
Last year, authorities in the Philippines arrested individuals linked to the Changde Cruise Attendants Vocational School in Xinyang, a city in China's Henan province. The detained students faced charges for promoting a cross-border gambling enterprise but were allowed to remain free on bail until their court date for sentencing.
At the trial this week, two of these students were handed a minimum sentence of eight months. They faced the possibility of up to a year in jail, as they were found guilty of advertising gambling activities at an unknown casino in the Philippines.
The students insisted that their participation in the gambling operation was unintentional. They claimed they were coerced into promoting a Filipino company that advertised video games. Many students from this same school had traveled to the Philippines for the same reason, with similar legal ramifications.
Principal Denies Knowledge of Illegal Activity
Deng Guangzhou, the school's principal, has insisted that he was unaware of the program's illegal nature. He said a firm from Shenzhen in Guangdong province devised the scheme, which he believed to be a legitimate work opportunity. Deng admitted that students had to pay for their own tuition, fees, and a travel visa amounting to around CNY10,500 (US$1,442), but stated that the school had no other involvement. The students had even testified to have paid CNY10,000 (US$1,374) to the school for their participation in the program.
A defense counsel for the students has lodged an appeal against the charges.
Most Recent Sentencing Among Dozen Cases
These sentences mark the latest incidents involving at least a dozen students from the school who had travelled to the Philippines to participate in the program.
In August, another student was convicted of the same offense and was sentenced to one year in prison. This student was also accused of inducing others to gamble. Investigations revealed that the student had worked for a Manila-based remote gambling outlet from 2018 to 2020 and had been responsible for recruiting Chinese players to wager on the website.
The casino was allegedly paid around CNY160,000 (US$22,000) by the student.
In March, a Xinyang court handed over an eight-month suspended sentence to a student, citing the same offense, according to Chinese news agency ThePaper.cn.
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