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.
Although she admitted that she likes to gamble occasionally, Ms. Guo pleaded not guilty to the accusations of running a casino. Supposedly, she had worked with her accomplice Zhao Xiaolai, who was sentenced to two years in jail and was fined CNY20,000.
Here it is important to mention that gambling activities are illegal in the greater part of China. In fact, casino gambling is only allowed in Macau, which is a former Portuguese colony and is now one of China’s administrative regions. The city is considered a major economic booster as it generates billions of dollars annually.
Being a popular personality, Ms. Guo’s case attracted quite a lot of attention in China and the Beijing Dongcheng People’s Court posted live updates on its official blog throughout the trial, which took place on Thursday, September 10.
Ms. Guo’s name has been involved in a number of scandals over the past four years. In 2011, she claimed that she was General Manager for the Red Cross Society of China’s commercial operations. At the same time, she demonstrated quite an extravagant lifestyle and luxury habits.
The notorious web personality posted pictures of her driving expensive cars and boasted about owning a number of Hermès bags, which are often related to wealth and lavish manner of living. This raised suspicions that the Red Cross Society of China was misusing donations. Back then, the organization denied being related in any way with Ms. Guo. 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 was enough to blemish the organization’s reputation and donations dropped more than 60% in 2011.
In a televised confession aired in August 2014, soon after her arrest, Ms. Guo admitted that she had organized Texas Hold’em games at her rented apartments in Beijing. She also acknowledged that she had offered betting options during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Yet, she said that she had never run a casino at the said apartments or anywhere else.
