Police raided a suspected illegal gambling den in Tai Po on Thursday afternoon, arresting a 74-year-old organiser and 36 others on suspicion of gambling.
Officers from the Tai Po district special duty squad conducted the raid around 2pm at a unit on On Fu Road following an in-depth investigation. A 74-year-old Lee surnamed local man was arrested on suspicion of "operating a gambling establishment." Thirty-five local men and one local woman aged 53 to 82 were arrested on suspicion of "gambling in a gambling establishment."
Police seized five mahjong tables, five sets of mahjong tiles, some furniture, and HK$1,560 in cash.
The 74-year-old organiser has been charged with one count of operating a gambling establishment. Twenty of the arrested individuals have been provisionally charged with one count of gambling in a gambling establishment. Their case will be heard at Fanling Magistrates' Courts on the morning of March 31. The remaining 16 arrested individuals have been released on bail pending further investigation and must report to police in late April.
Under the Gambling Ordinance, operating a gambling establishment and gambling in a gambling establishment are serious offences, carrying maximum penalties of a HK$5 million fine and seven years' imprisonment for operators, and a HK$30,000 fine and nine months' imprisonment for gamblers.
