SYNDICATES SMASHED
Police: One of the syndicates was raking in up to RM200k a month
Two major syndicates – an online gambling outfit in Penang and an Ah Long operation in Johor – were busted as police intensified their crackdowns. Lovelorn women, gamblers and businessmen with shaky finances were the targets of these syndicates. Investigations also found that illegal money lenders were recruiting people through social media and paying them to do their dastardly acts of intimidation.
NIBONG TEBAL: On the outside, it looked like a factory but inside, there were 99 people seated in front of computers frantically helping customers gamble online.
Police stormed the factory and found them all hard at work.
This is the 10th online gambling syndicate bust nationwide announced by the police this year alone, and the largest group arrested in Penang on record.
State police chief Comm Datuk Sahabudin Abd Manan said the 99 people, aged between 19 and 52, were arrested after police raided the factory in Sungai Baong, Sungai Bakap, at 3.15pm last Saturday.
“They comprised 42 locals and 57 Chinese nationals. Seized from the factory were 97 desktop computers and 291 mobile phones.
“The syndicate is led by a man from China and was believed to be active for the past one month. Each employee is paid about RM3,000 a month to target customers in China,” he said.
Gamblers remember that one experience of winning a huge sum but forget about the other 100 times they lost money.
In a separate operation at 1.30am on the same day, police busted another online gambling ring at two condominium units in Jelutong.
“The operation saw the arrest of 10 individuals comprising seven local men and three Chinese nationals aged between 20 and 61.
“Two desktop computers, six laptops and 419 mobile phones and tablets were seized along with modems and four vehicles.
“This syndicate is led by a 61-year-old man and is believed to have been active for about a year, promoting gambling via social messaging platforms to locals.
“The syndicate was raking in RM100,000 to RM200,000 monthly and bank cards used for transactions were rented from individuals for RM500 a month.
“Each employee of the syndicate was paid between RM2,500 and RM4,000 every month,” Comm Sahabudin said at a press conference at the South Seberang Prai district police headquarters in Jawi yesterday.
All suspects were remanded for four days, pending investigations under various sections of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
Meanwhile, a gambling addiction help centre reported that the number of gamblers seeking counselling had risen after a few quiet months of the movement control order (MCO).
Gamblers Rehab Centre (GRC) president Wawa Lim said the centre saw a drop in the number of phone calls during the MCO period, but it returned to normal once gambling activities resumed.
“If people call us, it is usually because they are having very serious problems with loan sharks,” he said.
But Lim said that the bleak economic situation did nothing to deter gambling addicts.
“They remember their previous ‘windfall’ while gambling and want to replicate that.
“Gamblers remember that one experience of winning a huge sum but forget about the other 100 times they lost money,” he said.
Lim said the addiction cut across all occupations; even doctors, lawyers and pilots ring up the centre for help.
“Gamblers must come to a realisation of what they are losing. They are not just losing money but their time, their ability to earn a living and their family relationship.
“We offer free counselling to make them see that,” he said.
Those struggling with gambling addiction can call GRC’s hotline at 017-238 1900.
Wawa Lim