Boyaa Interactive chair jailed over illegal poker app operations
Chair and CEO receives 12 month jail sentence following failure of appeal
The chair and CEO of Hong-Kong based online poker company Boyaa Interactive, Zhang Wei, has reportedly been jailed for 12 months by Chinese authorities over his role in promoting Texas Hold’em poker apps, which is now banned in China.
He was first arraigned in May, appearing at the Municipal of Intermediate People’s Court to answer charges levied against Boyaa’s Shenzhen subsidiary for offering “bribes by entities”, to which the company received a RMB2.5m ($365,000) fine.
For his role, Wei was sentenced to a 12-month jail term and an additional 18 month suspended sentence, later launching an appeal against the court’s decision.
This appeal was rejected by judges at the China Higher Peoples Court, meaning Wei will now serve the remainder of his sentence and the company will now have to pay the RMB2.5m fine.
In June, the Chinese Ministry of Culture ordered the removal of all “Texas Hold’em poker apps” online app stores serving the market, and that all chat platforms and social-discussion groups pertaining to Texas Hold’em poker be disabled.
According to reports, Zhang Wei resigned from his roles as executive director, CEO, chairman of the board and chair of the nomination committee when news of the failure of his appeal was made public.
In a statement on the Boyaa Interactive website, Boyaa said “that the Decision will not result in any material adverse impact on the business, operation and financial conditions of the Group. The Board will continue to monitor the development and the results of the Appeal and assess its impact on the operation of the Company.”
The company has confirmed the appointment of Dai Zhikang as its new chairman, while Tao Ying is reportedly due to be appointed executive director, authorised representative and chairman of the nomination committee to replace the now jailed Wei.