Cops bust 589 bookies nationwide over World Cup betting

KUALA LUMPUR: Since the soccer World Cup kicked off last month, police were kept busy busting hundreds of illegal bookmaking syndicates nationwide.
Apart from arresting 589 bookies including foreigners in 499 raids conducted across the country since the much-watched tournament kicked off on June 14, police also managed to block or freeze over RM15 million in wagers that were placed by betters in both online and conventional betting.
Federal police CID director Commissioner Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd said today that in the operation codenamed Ops Soga 2018 police also seized RM420,000, computer sets and cellphones from the suspects who are aged between 20 and 45.
He said the syndicates carried out its activities using websites that were registered overseas such as Hong Kong and the Philippines.
Wan Ahmad said in the latest bust on Tuesday, police traced a syndicate that had promoted itself by advertising its gambling services on the social media.
He said the syndicate operated from luxury condominiums to evade detection but police managed to track them down at three locations here and in Johor.
Wan Ahmad said the syndicate had begun its activities since June 6 and had profited over RM10 million from its 6,800 clients.
He said five men and two women were arrested in the bust and RM22,000, computers and cellphones were seized.
Wan Ahmad said about two-thirds of the 499 raids and half of those arrested were in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.
He said those held are being investigated for accepting bets, bookmaking and running an illegal gambling operation under laws of the Betting Act 1953.
Wan Ahmad said police viewed the menace seriously and advised the public to refrain from getting involved with such syndicates during the World Cup season.
To counter such activities, he urged the public to channel information on illegal bookmaking to the police.