State and federal agents joined forces on the Las Vegas Strip to shut down an illegal sports betting operation at Caesars Palace run by Chinese nationals who were taking wagers on the World Cup.
The raid on the hotel last week was directed by the FBI with help from the Nevada Gaming Control Board and the US Department of Homeland Security, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which said Caesars Palace cooperated with authorities and was not a target of the investigation. It was unclear how much money the bookmaking ring took in, the newspaper said.
Several people arrested in connection with the raid were expected to appear in federal court in Las Vegas this week. Beyond that, an FBI spokeswoman said more information would be released at a later date. Caesars Palace declined comment.
It was reported that the Chinese nationals running the operation originally had a betting ring in Macau, with high-end Asian gamblers as their target customers.
Last month, Hong Kong police broke up an illegal betting ring at a Macau hotel that took in an estimated US$645 million in wagers on the World Cup. The hotel was not named in news reports. In was the second such arrest for illegal wagering tied to the tournament.
The World Cup, which ended on Sunday, is known to have generated some 18 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in illegal betting inside China, where all forms of gambling except state-sponsored lotteries are prohibited. But this is believed to represent only a fraction of the total black market, which mostly is conducted through underground Web sites that charge membership fees. In May, police in Shanghai detained 63 people in connection with an online gambling ring that is alleged to have handled more than 113 billion yuan.
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