An alleged illegal soccer gambling operation that generated an estimated HK$500 million (US$64.5 million) in bets on the FIFA World Cup has been broken up by Macau police.
On Thursday 22 people were arrested – including 9 Malaysians, 9 Chinese mainlanders and 4 Hong Kong residents.
A spokeswoman for Macau’s Judiciary Police confirmed to GGRAsia the betting volume involved, correcting a posting on China News Service’s English-language website that referred to HK$5-billion worth of bets.
On Friday morning in an unrelated case, Macau police arrested four people from mainland China suspected of generating up to HK$5 million from another alleged illegal soccer gambling ring, said the Judiciary Police spokeswoman.
