appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

liveArticle

appConfig

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sectionsV2

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

json

SCMP Reporter

A bookmaker was jailed for three years and fined $250,000 yesterday after a judge said he had engaged in a 'substantial and sophisticated' football betting operation.

Merchant Wong Kwai-keung, 40, who pleaded not guilty to bookmaking and obstructing police, was convicted in the District Court last Friday.

Wong was accused of having engaged in bookmaking on January 9 last year, the night he was arrested. But the prosecution asked the District Court to take into consideration that the operation had been running for longer, allegedly since the 1998 World Cup, when sentencing Wong.

Barrister Lawrence Lok, SC, for Wong, asked the judge to sentence his client on the single charge of bookmaking on January 9, not events alleged before that date.

Deputy Judge Colin Mackintosh said he was not entitled to sentence the defendant for offences he was not charged with, but said it was unrealistic for the court to shut its eyes to the scale of the bookmaking operation.

'You were engaged in a very sophisticated and substantial bookmaking operation . . . involving bets from overseas,' the judge told Wong.

The judge accepted prosecution figures that the bets received by Wong between December 1999 and last January amounted to $73 million - $5.6 million of which was taken on football matches in just two days, January 8 and 9.

Italian and English football matches were broadcast on television during the period of the alleged bookmaking.

The court had heard that a police team raided a flat in Vista Paradiso, Ma On Shan, on January 9 last year. They found Wong and another man, Lee Sai-tak, 30, in the flat trying to dispose of evidence. When they tried to enter the bedroom, Wong obstructed them by leaning against the door.

Handing down the sentence, Deputy Judge Mackintosh said he was not in a position to comment on whether it was right or wrong to prohibit football bookmaking, but 'anyone engaged in bookmaking outside the limits of legislation must expect to be dealt with severely by the court'.

Lee was accused of bookmaking but failed to attend trial. He is believed to be in Malaysia. An arrest warrant was issued in March.



Bookie who took $73m in soccer bets jailed for 3 years