High-Stakes Poker Organizer, 'Professional Mistress' Sentenced To Five Years In PrisonGuo Meimei Was Convicted Of Illegal Gambling In Beijing |
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Chinese Internet celebrity and “professional mistress” Guo Meimei has been jailed for five years for running an illegal gambling business in Beijing, according to a report from the BBC.
She was arrested in July 2014 for taking bets on the World Cup. She had boasted online about her winnings from betting on the World Cup matches, later admitting to illegal gambling. She denied running an illegal gambling den, however.
The 24-year-old was convicted of running a series of illegal casinos out of flats she rented in the nation’s capital city. Macau is the only place in China where casino-style gambling is legal.
One of her gambling operations was an underground high-stakes poker game. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the poker games began after Guo befriended an unidentified foreign professional poker player during one of her trips to Macau, the former global hotbed for high-stakes poker. Guo’s game took a 3-5 percent rake, the report said.
In addition to the jail time she received last week, Guo was also hit with a fine of 50,000 yuan.
“I shouldn’t have participated in gambling, but I don’t think my actions constituted (a) crime,” she said in her final statement, according to CNN.
Much like Instagram celebrity Dan Bilzerian, Guo was known for posting photos depicting her lavish lifestyle to her social media accounts. She frequently posed in front of luxury cars.
According to the BBC, she “first became notorious in 2011 after posting photos of herself posing with luxury cars and designer handbags while claiming to be ‘general manager’ of the China Red Cross Commerce Department—a company linked to the Chinese Red Cross.”
The Chinese Red Cross denied any connection to Guo.
Despite admitting to being involved in sex work, Guo wasn’t convicted of any crimes related to it. “I’m really not short of those who want to keep me as mistress,” she said last year. “There are many who would spend money to sleep with me for a night, no matter the price.”
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