Yet another Internet gambling executive has been murdered and police in Vancouver, British Columbia have yet to determine any suspects in that city's 21st homicide of the year.  45-year old James Po Ho Cheung, the president and CEO of 777 Sports Entertainment Group, based out of San Jose, Costa Rica, was found dead in a lane at the rear of 3363 Napier St. by police early Saturday morning.

According to a report in the Vancouver Sun, Cheung was shot by somebody apparently waiting for him to return home to his modest two-storey residence, which is protected by bars on the windows and a steel grill across the front door. An autopsy was performed Monday.

Multiple shots were fired at the businessman as he sat in his blood-splattered Cadillac behind the east Vancouver house. Police would not say how many shots were fired or give details of the weapon or weapons that may have been used.

Vancouver Police spokesman Const. Howard Chow said Cheung was not known to police. Investigators were still out Monday combing the area for evidence and speaking with neighbours. Two vehicles were towed away from the home by police.

777 Sports Entertainment operated as a licensee of the Chimera 2 suite of online and wireless gaming platforms, which trades publicly on the Pink Sheets (SVNP).  The site began operating in August 2005 with online casino games and sports betting.  The company operated under the domain name of 777betz.com, but eventually went offline some time in the last two years.  The business is publicly listed in Nevada and is a subsidiary of 777 Sports Entertainment Ltd., a U.K. company.  The company has 112 shareholders and is worth $5.7 million, based on the most recent share price.

On Monday, shares in Cheung's company closed at 19 cents a share, down a penny, on the U.S. pink sheets exchange, which is a largely unregulated over-the-counter stock exchange.

The latest news release issued by 777 Sports Entertainment Group was in May last year when Cheung announced the expansion of his 777betz.com website using Chimera 2, an online wireless gaming platform.  The "Chimera" name was known to those gaming businesses operating in Costa Rica, however, its position was relatively low key on the industry radar.

Court records show Cheung was previously charged with three counts of laundering of property and one count of conspiracy to commit an indictable offence.

Offence dates for the laundering charges were Nov. 28, 1999, and April 2000. The conspiracy charge was dated Sept. 20, 1999. All charges were stayed by the Crown on Nov. 25, 2004.

Vancouver has long been home to a number of online gambling marketing arms tracing back to the days of Starnet.

Cheung's murder comes just two years after another Canadian online gambling executive was brutally murdered in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Adam Anhang, who was raised in Winnepeg, passed away tragically in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Friday, September 23, 2005 at age 32 after being stabbed over a dozen times while walking with his estranged wife.  His involvement with Internet gambling (as CEO and founder of CasinoWebCam) was ruled out as a motive at the time. 

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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher CCostigan@CostiganMedia.com

Originally published December 18, 2007 8:56 am EST