Authorities in Singapore have been able to seize close to $530,000 worth of electronic equipment and funds, portable phones, and other paraphernalia that was used to run illegal online gambling operations. Police carried out six separate raids and managed to round up 24 people allegedly involved in illegal gambling businesses that operated overseas and accepted bets remotely.
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The suspects were all aged between 32 and 72. Police managed to freeze bank accounts and assets belonging to the criminals in the course of their investigation. At least two suspects are going to be charged today for breaches of the Remote Gambling Act 2014.
Gambling laws in Singapore are strict. A person who has been convicted of proliferating illegal gambling faces up to five years in prison or a fine ranging from $14,000 to $140,000. In some cases, both penalties may be applied. Singapore also has a now obsolete clause where those convicted of illegal gambling may also be flogged, but this sentence has not been carried out in a long time.
Singapore continues to clamp down on illegal gambling as the country plans to reregulate its industry and establish new gambling regulators. Singapore has made news of illegal gambling recently. In June, a Singaporean hospital manager embezzled $250,000 from a hospital and was sentenced to three years behind bars.
In a related case, an OCBC bank teller embezzled $7,200 from a friend’s banking account. He was sentenced to six months in prison in April. Singapore has also been working hard on introducing new laws to its gambling laws.
Meanwhile, the Singaporean police revealed in a separate case on Monday that it had been investigating six other men aged between 62 and 78 for their suspected involvement in illegal gambling. Two 74-year-old men were said to have acted as bookmakers to others. The police arrested the culprits and seized various gambling paraphernalia along with $1,300 in cash.
