Chinese online identity Guo Meimei faces illegal gambling charges in Beijing
PUBLISHED : Monday, 07 September, 2015, 12:02am
UPDATED : Monday, 07 September, 2015, 12:02am
Staff Reporter
Guo Meimei will face court in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: SCMP Pictures
Online identity Guo Meimei and an associate will stand trial in a Beijing court on Thursday charged with running an illegal casino, state media reported on Sunday.
An indictment against Guo and Zhao Xiaolai said the two had organised illegal gambling on many occasions, and that the offences were serious, the website of People's Daily reported.
Last June, Guo suggest on her microblog she "could play a role" in the soccer World Cup that was about to get under way.
Beijing police arrested her the following month 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 last August, in which she apologised for her luxurious lifestyle and for damaging the reputation of the Red Cross Society of China which she had claimed to represent.
Guo caused outrage in 2011 when she posted photos of herself on Weibo flaunting luxury goods and a Maserati car while claiming to work for a subsidiary of the Red Cross Society of China.
The Red Cross, registered under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, denied ties to Guo, but the public remained sceptical and there was a massive drop in donations to the charity, which unlike its counterparts overseas, is state backed.
In the televised confession, Guo said she fabricated her affiliation with the Red Cross purely out of vanity.
In the CCTV report, Guo also admitted to operating a gambling venue in Beijing, as well as having sex with various men for money.
She admitted to fabricating reports of herself incurring a 260 million yuan (HK$316 million) gambling debt in Macau in a bid to get back into the limelight.
Since the confession, the charity has urged donors around the country to "please forget Guo Meimei".
