China police have tracked down a pair behind a $40.4m online gambling ring in the Philippines. [Image: Shutterstock.com]

Xianning Cyber Police have tracked two fugitives behind a RMB285m ($40.4m) online gambling ring to the Philippines, where they’ve been hiding out for five years. 

agreed to return to their native China to face justice

According to Asia Gaming Brief on Monday, the pair named only as Wang and Xie agreed to return to their native China to face justice after undergoing “policy education and persuasion.”

Media reports cited the Hubei Provincial Public Security Department’s Cybersecurity Protection Team as stating the suspects voluntarily surrendered on September 9. Xianning police out of Hubei Province first crossed their path in 2018 after a raid on an “illegal online gambling studio operating within a residential area.”

Police discovered the studio was the China base for an overseas gambling platform. Since 2016, the studio was involved in recruiting mainland Chinese from over 20 provinces to illegally gamble via overseas firms, while also managing financial transactions in China for the platform operators. In 2019, police made their move on the sophisticated crime network and arrested multiple suspects, including seven studio members.

The two prime suspects, Wang and Xie, managed to flee police by leaving China. But this year, however, Xianning Cyber Police tracked the pair to their Philippines hideout. According to AGB, all primary suspects in this major gambling case are in custody and the case has entered the trial phase.