{"id":113972,"date":"2019-09-03T13:17:36","date_gmt":"2019-09-03T20:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=113972"},"modified":"2019-09-03T14:01:33","modified_gmt":"2019-09-03T21:01:33","slug":"game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/","title":{"rendered":"Chinese Government Freezes $88 Million in Accounts Owned By Embattled Game Developer Boyaa"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chinese government is threatening to seize some $88 million in idle cash reserves belonging to social games developer Boyaa Interactive, the company said in a weekend filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The funds could be seized if they are determined to relate to criminal activity by the company’s former chairman.<\/p>\n

\"Boyaa\"
The BPT relied on Boyaa\u2019s Chinese-facing social poker app to feed its live tournament fields. But the ban which preceded the arrest of its chairman and CEO was a nail in the coffin for the tour. (Image: BPT)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The filing comes almost a year after Boyaa chairman and CEO Zhang Wei<\/a> was sentenced to 12 months in prison after the Shenzen People\u2019s Court found him guilty of \u201cbribes by entities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under Chinese law, this entails \u201cpaying\u00a0bribes\u00a0for the purpose of seeking improper benefits or offering kickbacks to state officials.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the specifics of Zhang\u2019s crimes remain unclear, the timing of his arrest in April 2018 was significant. The arrest came just a week after Chinese state media announced a ban on precisely the kind of play money social poker and chess apps that were Boyaa\u2019s specialty.<\/p>\n

In its most recent filing, Boyaa referred to Zhang\u2019s prosecution for \u201calleged illegal activities conducted through one of the company\u2019s onshore online gaming platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Inside Asian Gaming<\/em>, Boyaa also told investors that the frozen funds could ultimately be confiscated if Chinese authorities deem that \u201csome or all\u201d of the money is related to Zhang\u2019s criminal activities.<\/p>\n

Zhang resigned from all his executive positions within the company following his conviction.<\/p>\n

Boyaa Crushed<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The social poker ban hit Hong Kong-based Boyaa hard. The company operates the Boyaa Poker Tour (BPT), which relied almost completely on using its play-money poker app as a feeder for real-money live tournaments held in jurisdictions in East Asia where they were legal.<\/p>\n

The tour was cancelled for 2018 but returned this year for just one event, in Taipei, Taiwan in late June.<\/p>\n

\n

The Chinese government claimed the apps were being used by gamblers to play for real money, by using the play money chips as markers before settling in cash at a later date. Meanwhile, the chatrooms had become a recruiting ground for illegal games, claimed the government.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Boyaa\u2019s stock took a battering between the ban and the arrest of its chairman, and it took another one this week, plunging almost 10 percent in the wake of its weekend filing.<\/p>\n

Landing Chairman Lost and Found<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Zhang was not the only gaming company chairman detained by the Chinese government last year as part of President Xi Jinping\u2019s interminable \u201canti-corruption\u201d campaign.<\/p>\n

In August 2018, the chairman of Hong Kong-based casino developer Landing International, Dr Yang Zhihui<\/a>, was reported missing shortly after attending a groundbreaking ceremony for Landing\u2019s proposed $1.5 billion integrated resort in the Philippines.<\/p>\n

He resurfaced three months later to resume his duties. Landing explained in a filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange that Yang had been \u201cassisting the relevant department of the People\u2019s Republic of China with its investigation during the period of his absence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bloomberg<\/em> reported at the time that \u201cat least\u201d three chairmen of Chinese companies were missing and were also likely helping the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) with its inquiries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Chinese government is threatening to seize some $88 million in idle cash reserves belonging to social games developer Boyaa Interactive, the company said in a weekend filing to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The funds could be seized if they are determined to relate to criminal activity by the company’s former chairman. The filing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":113975,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61,1,22988],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGame Developer Boyaa Has $88 Million Frozen by Chinese Government<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boyaa Interactive has accounts frozen by Chinese government a year after the imprisonment of its chairman and CEO Zhang Wei.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Game Developer Boyaa Has $88 Million Frozen by Chinese Government\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Boyaa Interactive has accounts frozen by Chinese government a year after the imprisonment of its chairman and CEO Zhang Wei.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-09-03T20:17:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-09-03T21:01:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/boyaa.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"657\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/\",\"name\":\"Game Developer Boyaa Has $88 Million Frozen by Chinese Government\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/boyaa.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-09-03T20:17:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-09-03T21:01:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Boyaa Interactive has accounts frozen by Chinese government a year after the imprisonment of its chairman and CEO Zhang Wei.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/game-developer-boyaa-has-88-million-frozen-by-chinese-government\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/boyaa.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/boyaa.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":657,\"caption\":\"The BPT relied on Boyaa\u2019s Chinese-facing social poker app to feed its live tournament fields but the ban which preceded the arrest of Boyaa\u2019s chairman and CEO resulted in the tour\u2019s suspension. 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