Illegal gambling ring busted ahead of polls

lleged illegal gambling ring in Taiwan has been busted for accepting $42.36m worth of bets on results of the upcoming presidential and legislative elections.

Authorities raided 31 locations around the island and arrested 45 people last Saturday, according to the Taoyuan District Prosecutor Office.

Printers, fax machines and NT$20.68m of cash were seized during the raid.

Prosecutors said the well-organised ring was the largest to be shut down ahead of the 16 January elections.

Betting records showed that NT$1.4bn worth of bets had been placed.

An investigation into the alleged illegal gambling operations of the 45 people arrested has been set up.

Mr Lin, who is allegedly the man behind the operation, has pleaded his innocence after authorities questioned him.

Prosecutors have since succeeded in detaining Mr Lin after he failed to raise his bail money of NT$5m.

Running gambling operations is a criminal offence that carries a maximum prison sentence of three years under the Criminal Code of the Republic of China.

The only legal forms of gambling are lottery tickets issued by licensed operators to fund charity and sports schemes.

A draft act on allowing casinos remains pending in the Legislature.