Thailand to extradite Chinese iGaming baron to China

• She Zhijiang, the man behind a $385bn online gambling ring, to be extradited to China
• He will face trial in his own country, with China wanting his arrest since 2014
• She might end up on death row, given how China has handled similar cases in the past

A Court of Appeals in Thailand has ruled against She Zhijiang, a Chinese national who is suspected by authorities in Beijing to have run an illegal gambling ring and over 200 online websites.

He is now facing further prosecution in his homeland, and potentially a death sentence, as She is among the most prominent iGaming barons in Asia, and China takes a dim view of people who orchestrate gambling and criminal activities.

One of the largest Asian iGaming barons to be extradited to China

The country recently sentenced 11 people to death for running online scams and gambling operations out of Myanmar. She was originally apprehended in August 2022 and has been on the lam since 2012, when China issued a warrant for his arrest.

The court has decided that She can be extradited to China, despite the defense’s objections, which included an interpretation of the constitution along with the potential threat to She’s life were he to be returned home. Those arguments did not convince the court to decide in the appellant’s favor either.

She remains in the Klong Prem Central Prison in Thailand, while he awaits being extradited within 90 days. She supposedly ran around 239 illegal online gambling websites and targeted Chinese nationals. The estimated value of the operation is pinned at $385bn according to media reporting, and it is easily one of the largest illicit outfits.

China pursues gambling beyond its state borders

China has intensified its efforts to crack down on cross-border gambling, dissuading nationals from traveling to foreign countries to gamble, but has stopped short of banning the activity outright.

China has been increasingly gung-ho about neighbors opening casinos, though, with China playing a part in Cambodia’s decision to scale back its own ambitions about gambling.

Thailand, too, is a country that has been skeptical of gambling and gambling expansion. Most recently, a new law was passed to prohibit the hosting of live poker events in the country.

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