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Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Dr Patrick Ho, in the Legislative Council today (June 28):
Question:
Regarding soccer betting activities, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) Of the respective numbers of persons arrested by the Police so far for allegedly operating or participating in illegal betting on the soccer matches in this year's World Cup Finals, and how the figures compare to those in the last Finals;
(b) How the Police's law enforcement actions against illegal betting on the soccer matches in this year's Finals, and their effectiveness, compare to those in the last Finals;
(c) Whether underage persons' participation in legal and illegal soccer betting activities is on the rise; if so, of the details?
Reply:
Madam President,
Having consulted the Secretary for Security and the Commissioner of Police, the Administration's replies are set out as follows --
(a) Since the commencement of the World Cup 2006 up to June 23, the Hong Kong Police Force have arrested a total of 85 persons in 46 operations and have seized soccer betting slips which were worth more than $56 million.
During the World Cup Finals in June 2002, the Police arrested a total of 66 persons in 38 operations and seized soccer betting slips which were worth more than $38 million.
(b) All along, the Police have long-term strategies on combating illegal soccer betting activities, and have continuously combated such illegal activities with regard to circumstances. To prevent the likelihood of some bookmakers trying all sorts of means to lure participants in illegal soccer betting during the World Cup period, the Police have put in place a series of measures to strengthen combat action, including adopting a four-pronged approach in respect of prevention, education, gathering of intelligence and law enforcement.
Prevention and education -- The Police have arranged Police School Liaison Officers to reach out to schools to promulgate among students the right attitude towards illegal soccer betting. The Police are also concerned about whether illegal bookmakers are accepting bets on soccer matches in some bars or entertainment premises. During this period, the Police will also disseminate message on refraining from illegal soccer betting through publicity leaflets, press conferences, Government publicity films, seminars and discussion with the persons-in-charge of the licensed liquor premises and entertainment premises on how best to prevent illegal soccer betting activities from taking place in their premises.
Intelligence -- The Police have formed a special working group at the Police Headquarters to co-ordinate intelligence gathering from all the units of the headquarters, the region and district levels to combat illegal soccer betting activities. The Police have also strengthened liaison with the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) in order to gather intelligence on illegal soccer bookmaking activities. The Police liaise closely with the law enforcement agencies of the Mainland, Macau and overseas on exchanging such intelligence with a view to rigorously combating illegal bookmaking activities based in or outside Hong Kong.
Law enforcement -- The Police have sent officers to attend working meetings with the law enforcement agencies in the neighbouring jurisdictions such as the Guangdong Province, Macau and South-east Asian countries. Consensus were reached in setting up a mechanism on direct contact with the various places, in order to work closely with their law enforcement agencies to try the best to combat illegal soccer bookmaking activities during this period. The Police are confident that they can successfully smash the illegal bookmaking syndicates.
Latest enforcement action and its effectiveness -- Due to the vigorous enforcement action by the Police over the years, most of the illegal bookmakers have moved their operations out of Hong Kong. At the same time, most of them are carrying out illegal transactions on the Internet. The Police have enlisted support of the Internet Service Providers and in the recent operations, the Police have seized eight servers found to be connected with 13 websites suspected to be involved in illegal soccer betting for detailed investigation. Five of the websites have moved out of Hong Kong in view of the Police action.
The Police have strengthened liaison and exchange of intelligence with the law enforcement agencies in neighbouring jurisdictions. If necessary, the Police will conduct joint operations to combat such illegal activities. The recent smashing of a transactional bookmaking syndicate by the Police in collaboration with the Police Forces of Malaysia and Australia is one successful example.
The Police have written to international remittance organisations reminding them to exercise special care in providing account services to those companies related to bookmaking activities.
The Police have exchanged intelligence with HKJC in connection with bookmaking.
Apart from conducting raids against such bookmaking syndicates, the Police will also conduct in-depth financial investigation of these syndicates for the purpose of tackling their means of income and investigating offences likely to be associated with money-laundering.
(c) Young people below the age of 18 should not participate in gambling. The Police do not have figures on participation of young people in soccer betting activities.
Ends/Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:30
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