Logging off: Chinese internet celebrity Guo Meimei jailed for five years for running illegal casinos
She was arrested by Beijing police in July last year – one month after suggesting on her microblog she 'could play a role' in the soccer 2014 World Cup that was just about to start
PUBLISHED : Thursday, 10 September, 2015, 2:53pm
UPDATED : Friday, 11 September, 2015, 4:27am
Nectar Gan
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Guo Meimei was jailed for five years at Beijing's Dongcheng District Court on Thursday after being convicted of running an illegal casino. Photo: Dongcheng District Court/Weibo
Chinese internet celebrity Guo Meimei and an associate, Zhao Xiaolai, were both jailed on Thursday after being convicted of running an illegal casino by a Beijing court.
Guo – who first gained mainland notoriety in 2011 after falsely claiming to work for the state-backed Red Cross Society of China and openly flaunting her wealth and extravagant lifestyle on social media – was sentenced to five years in prison and fined 50,000 yuan (HK$61,000) at Dongcheng District Court. She had denied the charge.
Zhao, who had admitted the charge, was jailed for two years and fined 20,000 yuan.
Guo Meimei told the Beijing court she admitted taking part in illegal gambling but denied running an illegal casino. Photo: Dongcheng District Court/Weibo
At the start of the one-day hearing Guo admitted taking part in illegal gambling and inviting people to play high-stakes poker at an apartment in Beijing, but denied she had been running an illegal casino.
Guo appeared in court dressed in a white blouse and black trousers, wearing glasses and without make-up and her hair tied behind her head – in stark contrast to her glamorous image in the past.
This photograph of Guo Meimei beside a Maserati sports car, published on her social media website in 2011, led to her gaining notoriety. Photo: SCMP Pictures
She agreed with many of the prosecution’s claims, including asking a group of people to play Texas Hold’em poker between March and July 2013.
The court was told she organised three different nights of gambling, involving the use of money totalling 2.1 million yuan (about HK$2.5 million), at an apartment complex in Chaoyang district.
Guo Meimei (front) and her associate, Zhao Xiaolai, who were both jailed after being convicted of running an illegal casino in Beijing, arrive in the court on Thursday. Photo: Dongcheng District Court/Weibo
Zhao had helped Guo collect money from poker players during the gambling nights using a point-of-sale computer terminal in the apartment, prosecutors said.
Other associates, who will face trial at a later date, include Guo’s former boyfriend.
Guo said the man, who is foreigner, was a professional poker player and used gambling as his main source of income.
She was arrested by Beijing police in July last year – one month after suggesting on her microblog that she “could play a role” in the soccer 2014 World Cup that was about to get under way.
Guo was held on suspicion of running gambling sessions, engaging in prostitution and posting fraudulent information on her website during the World Cup.
State-run China Central Television aired her confession in August last year, in which she apologised for her luxurious lifestyle and for also damaging the reputation of the Red Cross Society of China, which she had claimed to represent.
The charges Guo faced on Thursday did not include her alleged involvement in prostitution, nor any alleged relationship with a “sugar daddy” Shenzhen businessman, who had reportedly funded her luxury lifestyle.
Some internet users were quick to point out that Guo seemed to have gained some weight after a year in jail.
“Her face is rounder now,” one person commented on Weibo. “Seems like the food in jail was pretty good.”
The scandal that broke after she claimed to be the manager of a subsidiary of the Red Cross in China hit the charity’s reputation, despite it denying any links to Guo.
The incident triggered public concerns about embezzlement and the improper management of charities.
The Red Cross in China, registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, suffered a huge drop in donations after Guo flaunted photographs of herself with a Maserati sports cars and luxury bags on her social media account.
The socialite continued to share photos of herself at luxury resorts, upscale restaurants and Macau’s casinos with her almost 1.9 million followers on Weibo.
