PADAWAN: Police here nabbed four men for operating an online gambling call centre at a double-storey terrace house on Monday (July 12).
District police chief Supt Aidil Bolhassan said the raid, carried out by a team from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Padawan police task force, took place around 2.55pm near Kuching City Mall at Jalan Stephen Yong.
“The team arrested four men, aged between 20 and 44, who were operating the centre inside the rented house. All of them are believed to be working as online gambling syndicate operators with a monthly salary of between RM1,200 and RM1,500.
“We believe that the syndicate had been conducting online gambling activities since April last year by turning the living room and bedroom of the house into a centre that operates on a 24-hour basis,” he added.
The syndicate’s modus operandi was to promote online gambling to their customers by using social media applications.
Aidil said five laptops, four modems, seven smartphones and two notebooks were seized in the raid.
He said investigations revealed that the syndicate reaped profits of about RM150,000 per month. All the suspects and the seized items were brought to the police station for further actions.
The case is being investigated under Section 4 (1)(g) of the Common Gaming House Act 1953 which provides for a fine up to RM50,000, a jail term of up to three years and fines up to RM50,000 for each gambling equipment confiscated.
