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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, in the Legislative Council today (June 18):
Question:
The Government established the Ping Wo Fund in 2003 to finance preventive and remedial measures to address gambling-related problems. Since matches of the World Cup Finals are ongoing at present, legal and illegal football betting activities may become even more active during this period. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the situation of crime syndicates' operation of illegal football betting through taking bets via the Internet, including the total amount of bets, in the past four years; whether it has assessed if such activities have become more rampant during this year's World Cup; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the measures taken to step up efforts to combat such activities, as well as the effectiveness of such measures;
(2) whether it knows the situation of crime syndicates' operation of illegal football betting through taking bets via channels other than the Internet (such as the telephone), including the total amount of bets, in the past four years; whether it has assessed if such activities have become more rampant during this year's World Cup; if it has assessed, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; of the measures taken to step up efforts to combat such activities, as well as the effectiveness of such measures;
(3) whether it has assessed if there are connections between local crime syndicates and their counterparts outside Hong Kong (e.g. in the Pearl River Delta); if it has assessed, of the details; whether it has joined hands with the law enforcement agencies of other regions to combat the illegal operation of cross-boundary football betting; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(4) whether it knows the number of problem and pathological gamblers who received in the past four years counselling, treatment and other support services offered by organisations financed by the Ping Wo Fund; the age profile of the recipients of assistance; whether the authorities have compiled statistics on recipients of assistance who had quitted gambling relapsing into the habit; if they have, of the findings; if not, the reasons for that;
(5) of the financial position of the Ping Wo Fund since its establishment, including details on its income (including the fund injection by the authorities) and expenditure in each year; whether the authorities have conducted any review of the operation (including fund-injection matters) of the Fund; if they have; of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(6) whether the authorities have any other measures, beside those financed by the Ping Wo Fund, to reduce public participation in illegal gambling and alleviate problems related to gambling; if they have; of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
It is the Government's policy not to encourage gambling. We attach great importance to the prevention and alleviation of gambling-related problems and thus we have adopted a multi-pronged strategy which includes regulation, law enforcement, public education and provision of counselling and treatment services. We are particularly concerned about the possible increased incentives for gambling and related problems during the 2014 World Cup. To this end, the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB), the Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) and the Ping Wo Fund have, in conjunction with major stakeholders, introduced specific measures in line with the aforesaid strategy to prevent and address gambling-related problems. A reply to various parts of the question is given below.
(1) and (2) In accordance with the Gambling Ordinance, save for authorised or licensed gambling activities, any person who engages in bookmaking or bets with a bookmaker for bets placed in Hong Kong commits an offence, regardless whether the bet is placed over the phone or through the Internet.
The HKPF has spared no effort in combating illegal football betting and has been monitoring such illegal activities for enforcement. Figures on police operations against illegal football betting over the past four years are as follows:
Year No. of No. of Total value
Successful persons of bets
Operations arrested seized
(HK$ million)
2010 110 151 386
2011 38 54 165
2012 30 52 139
2013 32 63 225
Since mid-2013, the HKPF had launched an intelligence-led operation against a cross-boundary bookmaking syndicate. The HKPF cooperated with the Guangdong Provincial Public Security Department and the Shenzhen Municipal Public Security Bureau and took enforcement action on June 8, 2014 with arrests made in both Hong Kong and the Mainland concurrently. In Hong Kong, the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau, the Narcotics Bureau and the Commercial Crime Bureau mounted 22 raids during an operation code-named "FIRESWATTER" and arrested 26 persons suspected of bookmaking and handling the proceeds of crime. Cash seized amounted to HK$11 million, and betting records with a value of about HK$370 million seized as of now. On the same day, the Mainland police arrested 3 persons in Shenzhen and Dongguan, with one of the arrested being a Hong Kong resident. The value of the betting records seized amounted to RMB 320 million (or about HK$400 million). The police forces of Hong Kong and the Mainland have disintegrated a large-scale cross-boundary bookmaking syndicate. The head of the syndicate and all his assistants, together with bookmakers who placed bets with the syndicate, were arrested.
(3) During the World Cup, the HKPF will step up efforts to combat illegal gambling activities as appropriate. Targeting cross-boundary bookmaking activities in recent years, the HKPF has set up a Tripartite Working Group on Anti-Illegal Gambling with the police forces of the Mainland and Macao to strengthen co-operation, and the HKPF is also a member of the INTERPOL Asia-Pacific Expert Group on Organized Crime. Through these platforms, the HKPF works with law enforcement agencies outside Hong Kong for intelligence exchange and joint operations. Joint enforcement operations were conducted during the World Cup this year and as a result they had successfully cracked down two cases of cross-boundary illegal football betting involving illegal bets of over HK$ 800 million.
(4) The four counselling and treatment centres financed by the Ping Wo Fund provide telephone counselling, face-to-face counselling and other professional treatment to problem and pathological gamblers and their families/friends. A hotline (1834 633) is also provided by the Fund to handle enquiries from those seeking assistance and the public. The number of service recipients over the past four years is at Annex 1, the age profile of service recipients is at Annex 2, and the statistics of service recipients with relapse is at Annex 3.
(5) The financial position of the Ping Wo Fund since its establishment, including its annual income and expenditure, is at Annex 4.
The Government has been providing subventions for social welfare services. In view of the concerns over gambling problems in the community, the Administration established the Ping Wo Fund in 2003 so as to finance preventive and remedial measures to address gambling-related problems with donations from charitable organisations and the public. The Ping Wo Fund Advisory Committee (PWFAC) advises on the above measures and puts forward strategies for implementation by the HAB. Since its establishment, the Fund receives annual donations and continues to allocate resources to fund counselling and treatment services as well as promoting public education programmes.
Apart from financing four counselling and treatment centres, the Fund commissioned independent institutions to conduct surveys and research on gambling-related issues since 2005. According to the findings of the survey on Hong Kong People's Participation in Gambling Activities conducted by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2011, 98% of the respondents had heard of Government's publicity against excessive gambling, about 76% had heard of the gambling counselling hotline, about 50% had heard of the counselling and treatment centres, and over 60% had indicated that they would seek help from the centres if in need. Considering the need for enhancing the promotion of anti-gambling messages among young people, the Fund introduced the Ping Wo Fund Sponsorship Scheme and the Ping Wo Fund School Project Grants in 2009 and 2010 respectively, sponsoring a total of over 140 non-governmental organisations and schools for organising activities so far. The Fund has reaped satisfactory results on various fronts of its work and has been able to allocate resources to meet service needs. We will continue to monitor the financial position and operation of the Fund and strengthen our co-operation with stakeholders for the prevention and alleviation of gambling-related problems.
(6) The HAB and the PWFAC work together on public education as well as counselling and treatment services as mentioned in Part (5) above.
As far as regulation is concerned, the Government prohibits illegal gambling activities through legislation, including Internet and cross-boundary illegal gambling. Authorised gambling activities are also regulated: The Licensee (Hong Kong Jockey Club) is required under the law to comply with the licensing conditions, particularly those on age restrictions for authorised betting activities. For example, the Licensee shall not accept requests from persons aged below 18 for opening betting accounts, entering off-course betting branches, placing bets or collecting dividends. Moreover, warnings against excessive gambling as well as information on counselling and treatment services shall be displayed at betting premises and betting websites.
In addition, the HAB attaches great importance to publicity and public education. In response to the 2014 World Cup, the HAB, the PWFAC, the HKPF, District Fight Crime Committees and more than 70 social services and education organisations have held 100 territory-wide and district-level activities under the largest-ever campaign to publicise the negative impact of gambling.
Ends/Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:34
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