Macau-based Abex88.com suspended a day after Beijing launches crackdown on internet gambling
An online betting network controlled by Citic Pacific that has operated from Macau for more than two years has suspended its services in the wake of a crackdown by mainland police on internet gambling, a South China Morning Post investigation has revealed.
Abex88.com is an internet betting exchange that allows registered users to wager cash on European soccer matches and the Hong Kong Jockey Club's Mark Six lottery.
Such gambling services are illegal under mainland and Hong Kong laws but the owners claim support from Macau, where they are licensed as an internet service provider but not a bookmaker.
CPCNet Macau, a joint venture 55 per cent controlled by the Hong Kong-listed arm of the state-owned Citic Group, owns and operates the site. Dublin-based Global Betting Exchange, or Betdaq, was a minority investor with a 45 per cent stake but the partnership appears to have dissolved.
CPCNet Macau is believed to be the first unit of a state-owned company to enter the murky but massive market for offshore gambling.
The China Center for Lottery Studies at Peking University estimates underground gambling on the mainland generates 700 billion yuan in revenue each year. 'The shareholders have to be careful,' said one former employee. 'Being who they are is both an advantage - because it opens doors and discourages close looks - and a disadvantage, because they must jump when someone says jump.'
