KUCHING: Police on Wednesday busted a call centre for an online gambling syndicate, here.
The centre, said to be generating profits of over RM4,000 daily, has been in operation for over two months, a source pointed out.
Kuching district police chief ACP Ashmon Bajah said the call centre, located at a residential premises in Jalan Tun Jugah, here, was raided at about 9.05pm.
“In the raid, a total of six operators were arrested; they included five Indonesian citizens while one was a local. They were aged between 18 and 23 years old.
“The residential premises believed to be rented for RM3,000 a month house all the workers,” he said in a statement today.
Ashmon said various equipment including three units of computer monitors, three units of computer processing units, five mobile phones, other gadgets and equipment were also seized during the operation.
He explained that the modus operandi of the syndicate is to promote online gambling, with the target group being local Malaysian citizens.
“They use apps such as WhatsApp, Telegram, WeChat and also Facebook. They operate 24 hours a day with each shift divided into 12 hours.
“The syndicate has been operating for about two months based on records and transactions that have been reviewed. This syndicate is also believed to make a profit of approximately RM4,000 to RM5,000 a day,” he added.
Ashmon said investigation papers have been opened under Section 4 (1) (g) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 which provides for a fine of RM5,000 to RM50,000 and imprisonment for up to three years if convicted in addition to a fine of RM5,000 to RM50,000 for each gambling machine or gadget seized.
“All Indonesian suspects are also being investigated under the Immigration Act 1959/63 for not having valid travel document and also having expired passport,” he added.
