Refuse development orders for gambling, fraud, or adult-content apps; do not set up payment gateways or unblock accounts for such “clients”

If you take a development order knowing it is a gambling app, you are treated as an accomplice in operating a casino. Operating a casino carries up to 5 years, or 5 to 10 years in serious cases — heavier than the at-most 3 years for merely helping. In one e-sports betting app case, 28 people were sentenced under operating a casino to between 1 year and 3 years 6 months. Someone who unblocked QQ accounts for a fraud ring got 1 year 6 months and a 20000 yuan fine.

Cost

No direct monetary cost. The trade-off is forgoing outsourcing projects that pay well but have vague requirements. The difficulty lies in the fact that these clients often offer significantly higher pay than normal projects.

Benefit

Providing technical support or payment settlement services to known online criminals can lead to imprisonment of up to 3 years and/or a fine, especially when the circumstances are serious. If other crimes are also involved, the harsher penalty applies. Operating illegal gambling dens carries up to 5 years in prison plus a fine; serious cases bring 5–10 years. Official examples: Zhangsheng Group developed gambling games and handled “online distribution,” earning fees for website setup and reporting; the total illicit revenue reached nearly 7 billion yuan. Its leader was sentenced to 9 years and 9 months plus a 50-million-yuan fine. 79 developers, including Wang Qiang, received sentences ranging from 6 months to 9 years and 9 months. In another case, 28 developers in Hainan who built an e-sports betting app were convicted of operating illegal gambling dens and received similar sentences, plus fines. One individual who ran a studio unblocking QQ accounts for fraudsters got 1 year and 6 months in prison and a 20,000-yuan fine (nationwide).

Notes

“Knowing intent” does not require the client to explicitly state the purpose. When a quote is far above market rates, the app includes top-up, cash-out, and betting features, and the client refuses to disclose usage, these facts are used to prove you were aware of the illegal nature. Developers of gambling apps are prosecuted as accomplices in operating illegal gambling dens, not under the “Crime of Assisting Information Network Criminal Activities” which caps at 3 years.

Sources · 4

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2. 最高人民检察院 (2023). 建赌博网站并出售，涉案近 70 亿元. spp.gov.cn/spp/zdgz/202307/t20230711_621248.s…
3. 最高人民检察院 (2022). 上海闵行区：办理一起新型开设网络赌场案. spp.gov.cn/spp/zdgz/202208/t20220805_569952.s…
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