Online gambling syndicate call centres busted, 109 nabbed

Penang police busted two online gambling syndicate call centres with the arrest of 60 Chinese nationals and 49 locals in separate raids in operations dubbed ‘Ops Dadu Khas’ in Jelutong, George Town and Sungai Bakap on Saturday.

Its chief, Sahabudin Abd Manan said that during the first raid on a furniture factory in the Sungai Baong industrial area, Sungai Bakap at 3.30pm, police detained 99 individuals, including 57 Chinese nationals, aged 19 to 52.

“All of them, including two local women and seven Chinese women, are employees at the call centres for an online gambling syndicate, as well as unlicensed stock investments. The syndicate has been using the factory for its operations for the past one month.

“During the raid, the police also confiscated 97 sets of computers as well as 291 mobile phones. Our investigation found that the syndicate was conducting online gambling promotions based here as well as unlicensed stock investments from China,” he said at a press conference today.

The investigation also found that the syndicate’s mastermind was a Chinese national and it was believed that he was still in Malaysia and the police did not rule out the possibility that he was carrying out similar activities in several other states.

Sahabudin said that the call centres operate from 10am to10 pm, and each employee is paid a monthly salary of RM3,000 in cash. The syndicate targets customers from here as well as China.

The police also raided three luxury condominiums in Jelutong in separate raids from 1.30pm to 2.40pm. They detained 10 men, including three Chinese nationals, aged 20 to 61, for advertising online gambling through the WhatsApp and WeChat applications, targeting local customers.

During the raid, the police confiscated two sets of computers, six laptops and 419 mobile phones and tablets, 12 bank cards and four luxury cars, Sahabudin said.

“The syndicate was masterminded by a local man, aged 61, who was nabbed in the raid. It was believed to have been operating for the past one year and made profits of up to RM100,000 to RM200,000 a week and employees are paid a salary of RM2,500 to RM4,000 a month,” he said, adding that all those detained are being remanded for four days until tomorrow to assist in the investigations.

- Bernama