Chinese woman jailed for running gambling activities

A month after her arrest, Guo appeared in a televised “confession” on CCTV wherein she admitted to gambling and prostitution accusations against her.

Notorious Chinese Internet personality Guo Meimei was sentenced to five years in jail and a fine of CNY50,000 for offering gambling options at private parties at rented Beijing apartments.

Her accomplice Zhao Xiaolai was given a 2 year sentence and fined 20,000 yuan (around 3,136 USD). Chinese authorities want this case to be an example to deter other illegal gambling operators from running underground casinos in China.

Gambling is mostly illegal in mainland China, although it is allowed in Macau and, to a lesser extent, Hong Kong.

The trial of Meimei was covered extensively by news channels and social media websites in China and the Beijing Dongcheng People’s Court also posted real time updates on its Twitter account, giving the public a close view of the proceedings.

Guo triggered a wave of public ire in 2011 when she flaunted her wealth online and claimed she was the general manager of a firm called “Red Cross Commerce”, which web users took to mean she had received embezzled funds. At the same time, she demonstrated quite an extravagant lifestyle and luxury habits. This raised suspicions that the Red Cross Society of China was misusing donations.

Red Cross officials have tried to distance the charity from the woman, yet her name has become a byword for lack of credibility on the part of Red Cross, whose operations remain opaque. Later on, she herself admitted that she did not work and had never worked for the charity, which is linked to China’s Red Cross. However, the scandal dealt a major blow to the charity’s reputation and donations plummeted.