IPOH: The police have exposed an online gambling syndicate that was in operation for eight months using a terrace house at a gated and guarded community in Sunway City, Tambun here to conceal its illegal activities.
Acting on residents’ information, the Ipoh police headquarters Anti-Vice, Gambling and Secret Societies Division (D7) team raided the location around 9.30 pm on Oct 23.
District police chief ACP A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz said the police detained seven Indonesians, including two women, aged between 21 and 38, for conducting gambling activities.
“The police also seized three laptops, 20 mobile phones of various brands, an Internet modem, a log book and seven Indonesian passports,” he told a press conference today.
He said the syndicate’s modus operandi was to promote gambling online through apps such as WeChat, MiChat, Facebook and short messaging system that targeted locals and could rake in transactions between RM5,000 and RM15,000 a day.
“The house was rented by the syndicate since last February with the help of a local known as Chow while the operator was offered a salary of between RM2,000 and RM5,000 depending on profits,” he said.
According to A. Asmadi, initial investigations found that all detainees entered the country using social passes from Pontianak, Indonesia by flying into Kuala Lumpur International Airport before taking a Grab Car to the location.
He said all those detained were remanded for 14 days beginning last Sunday and the case would be investigated under Section 4(1)(C) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1952 and Section 15(1)(C) of the Immigration Act 1959/63.
Meanwhile, he confirmed receiving information about the death of a Territorial Army Training Centre personnel this morning.
He said the autopsy results on the deceased 37-year-old man indicated that the cause of death was by hanging but further investigation was still underway. — Bernama
