Police believe they have smashed a syndicate that accepted bets via the Internet on the UEFA Cup Final between Liverpool and Alaves, which was played in Germany early this morning.
Organised Crime and Triad Bureau officers yesterday arrested four men and a woman, aged 26 to 37, in a raid on a promotion company in a commercial building in Hennessy Road, Wan Chai. They believe it was used as a base for accepting bets from local soccer fans via the Internet.
Police believe the base was established in February.
The Web site address of the syndicate was immediately taken off the Internet after the raid at about 3pm. Officers seized a number of computers, printers and television sets along with a large quantity of documents and records relating to soccer matches.
After sifting through the accounts, officers allegedly found bets amounting to more than $2 million for the past two months.
The five were still being held this morning as the inquiries continued.