SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Asian handicap gaming group SBOBET has strenuously denied allegations linking its name to a Wei Seng Phua, one of eight people arrested in the US for illegal online sports betting on the World Cup.
His detention came after the FBI and the Nevada Gaming Control Board seized computer and electronic equipment in Caesars Palace, a luxury strip establishment on the Las Vegas Boulevard.
However, amid recent speculation that some transactions could have been made using their online sportsbook, the firm said this could only have been done illegally. A statement from their news and updates portal reads:
“Global online sportsbook SBOBET wishes to make it clear that recent press reports linking its name to a Wei Seng Phua (or Phua Wei Seng) who was arrested in the US for illegal online sports betting on the 2014 FIFA World Cup conducted out of a Las Vegas casino base are entirely without foundation.
“Neither the accused nor those arrested with him have any involvement or association with the ownership or management of SBOBET, or with its operators, Celton Manx Limited and Richwell Ventures Limited.
“Additionally SBOBET wishes to clarify that the US is one of more than 30 jurisdictions worldwide from which it does not accept bets from and that any alledged wagers placed via SBOBET.com by the accused could only have been made illegally, as press reports confirm.”
