"I became a fugitive due to opening a casino," and the school recommended going abroad to work

Pengpai News reporter Tan Jun

Engaged in a job recommended by the school, unexpectedly involving a crime.

Recently, several graduates of Hunan Changde Haicheng Vocational School told Pengpai News that they were recommended by the school to work in the Philippines for one or two years. After returning to China for three or four years, they were suddenly arrested by the police, and some of their classmates have been sentenced by the court on charges of opening a casino.

The entrance of Changde Haicheng Vocational School is shown in this article. Except for the annotations, all respondents provided pictures

Classroom scenes captured by students during school

Deng Guangzhou, the principal of Hunan Changde Haicheng Vocational School, admitted that more than ten students were involved in the case after working in the Philippines through the school.

According to multiple judicial documents obtained by Pengpai News, students at Haicheng Vocational School were involved in the "Jiuzhou Entertainment City" major cross-border gambling case, which was investigated by the Xinyang police in Henan Province in 2021.

Decision on the detention of the student involved in the case

The sudden "internet escape"

On August 6th this year, Qin Fang, who was sleeping in a rented apartment in Shenzhen, was suddenly opened by the landlord. After the police took her away, they told her in the car that she had been chased online.

On August 10th, Li Yun, who was taking the subway in Changsha, was also handcuffed away by the sudden arrival of the police. "The police arrived in handcuffs, with a demeanor that others thought I was a murderer. They called me a fugitive online, but I didn't even know what happened and never thought about running away." Recalling the scene of being arrested, Li Yun still feels ashamed.

In the middle of August, Zheng Liang, who worked in a friend's nightclub, went directly to the police station to "surrender" after receiving a call from the police in the place where his registered residence was located, and then he met the police in Xinyang, Henan.

According to preliminary verification by Pengpai News, at least 6 graduates from Changde Haicheng Vocational School were taken away throughout August. They are all involved in the cross-border gambling case of "Jiuzhou Entertainment City" investigated by the Xinyang police in Henan, and have been listed as "online fugitives" suspected of opening casinos. Some of them were only "locked up" for a day, while others were sent to a detention center for a period of time. At present, six individuals are released on bail pending trial after paying a deposit ranging from 5000 to 10000 yuan.

The student involved in the case paid bail pending trial money to the police

Earlier this year in early January, their classmate Lu Tian was also released on bail by the Shangtianti Branch of Xinyang Public Security Bureau due to the same cause of the case. On March 12th this year, the Pingqiao District Court of Xinyang City sentenced Lu Tian to eight months in prison with a one-year probation for the crime of opening a casino.

Another person who has been sentenced is Wang Tang. She was sentenced to one year imprisonment with a two-year probation by the Pingqiao District Court of Xinyang City on August 28 this year for the crime of opening a casino.

Several students from Haicheng Vocational School introduced that there were more than ten alumni involved in the case, just like them. Deng Guangzhou, the principal of Haicheng Vocational School, told Pengpai News that more than ten students have been registered and processed so far. These students went to the Philippines in different batches from 2016 to 2018.

Lu Tian's judgment shows that from 2018 to 2020, Lu Tian left the country to work in the promotion department and logistics department of the rice collection consulting company under the gambling website of California Entertainment City, Manila, Philippines, responsible for developing gamblers in Chinese Mainland to conduct online gambling on the gambling website, and then obtained illegal income of 160000 yuan from the website in the form of labor and other forms.

Near the Manila Harvest Company in the Philippines

Street View of Manila, Philippines

The content of Li Yun's indictment is similar to that of Lu Tian. She is accused of working in the promotion department of the rice harvesting company from October 2017 to November 2019 and obtaining illegal income of over 70000 yuan. On August 10, 2023, she returned 10000 yuan of stolen goods.

According to relevant judicial documents, on May 7, 2021, the High tech Branch of Xinyang Public Security Bureau received the "Xinyang City Leading Group for Combating and Governance of Cross border Gambling" Xin Gambling Research Order No. 24, which designated the High tech Branch to investigate some agents and staff of the "Jiuzhou Entertainment City" super large cross-border gambling website.

High salary overseas recommended by the school

Several students introduced that their job at the Philippine rice harvesting company is game promotion. The basic salary is six to seven thousand yuan per month. "The main purpose is to introduce others to download the Kyushu Entertainment app. Others are already playing that kind of game, but we only recommend them to come here to play. We don't know that the company is illegal, and the police have never come to find them."

Zheng Liang stated that he only worked for a few months. "They have a lot of language skills that I can't learn, but when I went back, I had to compensate them. Later, I transferred to work in the logistics department." Yang Qing, on the other hand, said that he went to the Philippines at the end of 2016 and returned to China in 2018. Due to being deducted two months' salary by the company, he went back to work for more than a year and worked for two to three years. He was found to have illegal gains of over 180000 yuan.

Several students claimed that the illegal gains identified by the police based on bank statements were actually their salary income at the company.

The students also stated that this job in the Philippines was actually done through a school. They were born between 1998 and 2000, and after graduating from junior high school, they enrolled in Haicheng Vocational School. In the last year of vocational school and after reaching the age of 18, the school recommended this involved job and charged more than 10000 yuan for it.

The apartment where the student in question resides in the Philippines

A student presented a receipt issued by Principal Deng Guangzhou in April 2017, which was named "Tuition fee, 10500 yuan".

Public information shows that Haicheng Vocational School is a full-time secondary vocational school approved by the Education Bureau of Changde City and registered with the Education Department of Hunan Province. It was established in 2005 and is a private non enterprise unit. Deng Guangzhou responded to the surging news by stating that the work in the Philippines is handled by the school through Shenzhen Haixinheng Investment Management Company. "At that time, he said he used to work in hotel management, clerks, and other administrative work."

Haicheng Vocational School Student ID

According to business information, Shenzhen Haixinheng Investment Management Company was established in April 2016 with a registered capital of 500000 yuan and the legal representative is Hu Zhenjun. The company was deregistered in April 2019.

Pengpai News called the phone number on the original business registration information of Haixinheng Company, but was unable to connect. It is currently unclear why the company was deregistered.

For the 10500 yuan overseas expenses, "8000 yuan is the supplementary tuition fee, and 2500 yuan is the overseas visa fee, medical examination fee, airfare, and other fees collected on behalf of Haixinheng Company." Deng Guangzhou explained, "There is an invoice. At that time, the finance department was on vacation, and I collected it on my behalf. Later, the student did not come to the finance department to issue an invoice."

The fees paid by students to the principal before going abroad

Deng Guangzhou said that the school was completely unaware of the student's involvement in the case work in the Philippines. "In 2016, Haixinheng Company came to hire someone, and we tentatively gave a few students. After the students went, their feedback was good, and they went to several more batches later."

Several students introduced that at the end of 2018, Deng Guangzhou, his wife, and school teacher Hu also visited the Philippines and met with some students. "Principal Deng must know what our job is, but he didn't tell us anything," they said

Deng Guangzhou stated that he did indeed visit students in the Philippines in December 2018. "I saw that their office space was luxurious, they lived well, and their income was high, so I felt something was wrong. But gambling is legal in the Philippines, so I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just didn't arrange for students to go there again."

Haicheng Vocational School Principal Deng Guangzhou Image: Screenshot of the school's promotional video

After the incident

Several students introduced that after a gap of four or five years, they were suddenly taken away by the police. They were filled with regret and grievances, saying, "I now know that the kind of work in the Philippines is illegal, but I didn't understand the law at that time and was not deeply involved in the world. After all, they all just graduated from school and turned 18."

Wang Tang told Pengpai News that she is the youngest in her class, born in 2000. When she graduated, she could have worked on a cruise ship, but that job was only as a waiter. The Philippine job recommended by the school is said to be a high paying overseas job. In August and September 2018, at the age of 18, she went to the Philippines with longing and curiosity.

"The company works in ordinary office buildings, which are very large and crowded. Working there is actually quite boring and a bit of a waste of time," said Wang Tang. At the Philippine rice harvesting company, although their personal freedom is not restricted, they cannot leave and return to their home country without the company's consent. The company also prohibits taking photos and discussing work matters with their families. A police officer asked her why she didn't go to the embassy in the Philippines if she knew the nature of the company. She replied, "This matter is legal over there, how can we find it?"

After the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, Wang Tang snatched a plane ticket and returned to China, finding a new job. On July 14th this year, she was arrested at Xiamen Airport. She disappeared suddenly for over 20 days and lost her job. After the case entered the judicial process, Wang Tang returned the illegal gains of 126000 yuan that were recognized, and was fined 20000 yuan. In addition, he spent 200000 yuan on expenses such as hiring a lawyer.

"In fact, after three years of studying in this vocational school, my family has already spent more than 100000 yuan, and I spent several tens of thousands of yuan on obtaining a seafarer's certificate." Li Yun said that after the incident, she returned the stolen goods, paid the security deposit, and found a lawyer, and spent more than 50000 yuan. Now that her case has arrived at the prosecutor's office, I don't know when it will be tried in court. "Every day, I feel scared and exhausted."

She began to point the finger at the school and said, "We found jobs through the school, how did we become criminals? The crime of opening a casino is set too heavily, and the cost to us is too high. How could we just bear the burden of the case?"

After the incident, Li Yun had several WeChat exchanges with Deng Guangzhou and Teacher Hu. But a few days later, Li Yun discovered that her WeChat had been blocked by the two of them.

Teacher Hu said that because the ecological level was not good, she was blacklisted. "Her job was not arranged by me, it was because the school fell for it."

Deng Guangzhou said that the school is currently actively communicating with lawyers and the Henan side, "hoping to be exempt from criminal punishment, or to be given public security or economic penalties. If they bear this charge, they will face lifelong troubles such as loans and children's education."