Indonesian officials have deported 92 Chinese nationals accused of orchestrating a gambling and investment fraud syndicate.
Galih Kartika Perdhana, the Head of the Soekarno-Hatta Immigration Office in Batam Province, said immigration officials carried out the deportations at the official request of Chinese authorities, the Indonesian media outlet Suarasurabaya reported.
“We will not give any opportunity whatsoever to foreigners who disrupt order and security in Indonesia,” said the immigration chief.
Galih said the Chinese government “fully facilitated” and paid for the deportation process, with Chinese police officers escorting all the suspects onto a flight to Guangzhou.
Indonesian officials have also handed all 92 individuals lifetime reentry bans.
Indonesian Officials Deport Chinese Nationals: Permanent Ban
In April, the Chinese National Immigration Administration announced that it had revoked the passports of 89 individuals. Police suspect them of offenses related to “cross-border gambling and telecommunications fraud.”
It said police and immigration officials in an undisclosed Southeast Asian nation had detained the individuals.
“Some [Chinese] individuals are deceived by illegal organizations or lured by various incentives,” said the administration. “They have traveled to Southeast Asian countries under the guise of tourism or employment to engage in cross-border gambling, telecommunications fraud, and other illegal and criminal activities.”
A spokesperson said “public security departments specializing in international cooperation” were working with the immigration departments of “relevant countries.”
The same Chinese government organ said that courts have banned all deportees from leaving China for three years.
World Cup Betting Crackdowns
Gambling is illegal in both China and Indonesia. Since the start of the World Cup, police in both nations have launched sweeping crackdowns on illegal sportsbook operators.
However, CasinoBeats has found evidence that scores of online betting platforms continue to target Indonesian and Chinese residents on social media.
The Chinese media outlet Jimu News wrote on July 7 that one of its reporters had infiltrated a 3,000-member World Cup social media-based betting group.
The media outlet said that scores of gambling sites are posing as “World Cup live streaming platforms.”
The platforms mainly involve software downloads and all link to illegal betting sites, the newspaper wrote. Operators prompt users to pay 100 yuan ($15) deposits before they can access the betting platforms, Jimu News wrote.
Elsewhere in East Asia, South Korea’s sports lottery operator has begun offering cash rewards to whistleblowers who report illegal soccer betting portals.
In the US, meanwhile, financial analysts say legal sportsbooks have been left out of pocket after big-name forwards like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, and Erling Haaland continued to add to their goal tallies in recent matches.
