Gatherings of family and friends
Many people will choose to play mahjong
Entertainment
And with mobile APP, WeChat Mini Program
The push is new
Even if you can't get together
You can also go anytime, anywhere via mobile phone
Online chess and card entertainment
Entertainment itself is understandable
However, some lawbreakers have begun to distort their minds because of this
Opened the casino online...
Recently, the Hechuan District People's Court of Chongqing Municipality tried a criminal case of using WeChat to organize multiple people to gamble online, and sentenced the defendants Su and Cheng to one year and four months in prison, one year and two months in prison, and fined them for the crime of opening a casino.
Case Review ✦
In June 2019, in order to seek illegal benefits, Su and Cheng created a circle of relatives and friends through the "a cat mahjong" game application, and purchased game room cards in bulk to open a room to provide gambling venues for gamblers. Then, Su and Cheng used WeChat to invite unspecified people to participate in gambling, and then used the network chat tool to create "notification groups" and "red envelope groups" for the participants to settle wins and losses and draw profits from them. The participants settle the bet in the form of points into money, and the winner pays a "room fee" of 3 yuan per round.
On May 9, 2020, Su and Cheng were seized by the public security organs. As of the occurrence of the case, the gambling group averaged 200-300 table people participating in gambling every day, and Su and Cheng made a total profit of more than 290,000 yuan.
Court hearing ✦
After trial, the court held that the defendants Su X and Cheng X, for the purpose of making profits, opened a place dedicated to gambling, and their behavior violated the second paragraph of article 303 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, the facts of the crime were clear, the evidence was credible and sufficient, and they should be investigated for criminal responsibility for the crime of opening a casino, so the above judgment was made in accordance with law.
Judge reminds ✦
The Internet is not a place outside the law, the use of social software, the organization or participation in online gambling is illegal, do not hold a fluke mentality. In addition, online gambling is easy to cause personal information leakage, and once targeted by criminals, it is very easy to cause personal property losses.
Links to laws
Article 303 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China
【Gambling Crime】 Whoever, for the purpose of making a profit, gathers a crowd to gamble or engages in gambling shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also be fined.
【Crime of Opening a Casino】Whoever opens a casino shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance, and shall also be fined; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined.
[Crimes of Organizing Participation in Gambling Outside the Country (Territory)] Whoever organizes citizens of the People's Republic of China to participate in gambling outside the country (territory) and the amount is huge or there are other serious circumstances, shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.
Paragraph 2 of Article 1 of the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Cases of Online Gambling Crimes stipulates that the use of the Internet, mobile communication terminals, etc. to transmit gambling videos and data and organize gambling activities constitutes the crime of opening a casino, and in any of the following circumstances, it shall be found to be "serious circumstances" :(1) the cumulative amount of profits drawn reaches 30,000 yuan or more; (2) the cumulative amount of gambling funds reaches 300,000 yuan or more ;(3) The cumulative number of participants in gambling reaches more than 120 people; (4) the amount of illegal income is more than 30,000 yuan by providing gambling to others after the establishment of gambling websites; (5) the amount of illegal income is more than 30,000 yuan when participating in the profit sharing of gambling websites; (6) recruiting lower-level agents for gambling websites and accepting bets by lower-level agents; (7) recruiting minors to participate in online gambling, etc.
Source: Hechuan Political Science and Law