GEORGE TOWN: Hiding behind the walls of luxury condominiums, an online gambling syndicate was busted when 23 of its workers were arrested in two raids last Friday.
State police chief Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said in the first raid at 5.25pm, a team of officers and personnel from the Gambling, Vice and Secret Society Division (D7) together with the state Commercial Crime Investigation Department arrested 13 individuals in a condominium in Persiaran Gurney, here.
He said the first arrest involved 10 men and three women, aged between 19 and 31.
"The first raid then led to a second raid in another luxury condominium at Jalan Kelawei here.
In the second raid, 10 other individuals — nine men and a woman — aged between 16 and 27 were nabbed.
"The syndicate is believed to have employed young people with a knowledge in computing. Most of them have only worked for a week to a month with the syndicate.
"Some of them have also been arrested for similar offence previously," he told a press conference at the state police contingent headquarters here today.
Mohd Shuhaily said all workers were paid between RM1,500 and RM2,000 to act as agents to promote the online gambling syndicate.
"Besides a fixed salary, they also receive a five per cent commission for a customer's loss. The syndicate has been active since mid December last year, with operating hours between 12noon and 12 midnight daily.
"The syndicate is believed to have lured their customers through social media such as Facebook, Whatsapp and Telegram," he added.
Mohd Shuhaily said police also confiscated various equipment believed to be used for gambling activities, including 85 units of mobile phones of various brands; 18 units of laptops, eight sets of desktop computers, 49 pieces of sim cards and two Honda cars.
"The syndicate is believed to have adopted a new modus operandi where the betting numbers are determined by the syndicate themselves, without involving a third party. The syndicate makes draws on a daily basis.
"We are working with Bukit Aman to track down whether the same syndicate is also operating in other states besides Penang. We are currently hunting down the syndicate leader," he said.
All suspects are detained under Section 4 (1) (a); Section 4 (1) (b), Section 4 (1) (c) and Section 4 (1) (g) of the Open Gambling House Act 1953.
In a separate case, four men believed to be Ah Long, were arrested to assist in the investigations into a robbery and treason by fire case at 2am last Friday.
Mohd Shuhaily said all the suspects, aged between 25 and 30, were picked up at Jalan Perak, Jelutong here.
"All of them were detained to assist in the investigation into the case of a 47-year-old woman who was beaten about 5.30pm on Jan 3. All suspects were carrying out money lending activities without license at a budget hotel at Jalan Kampung Malabar here.
"All suspects have no previous criminal records. The urine test results for drugs for all the suspects came back negative," he said.
He added in the incident, the suspects took the car keys and two bank cards belonging to the victim.
The victim was locked up for two days before being rescued by policemen from the Central Police Station at 10.03pm on January 5.
The victim suffered minor head injuries.
He said initial investigation found that the victim was subjected to such punishment after failing to make a loan payment of RM10,000.
"The victim made a loan from one of the suspects.
"The case is being investigated under Section 395 of the Penal Code," he said.