All (illegal) bets are off
By Benson Ang
The New Paper
Sunday, Jun 17, 2012
Customers in a crowded Geylang coffee shop were glued to the television screens showing the Euro 2012 match between Denmark and Portugal early yesterday morning.
Unknown to them, other eyes were on them as they followed every pass and kick of the ball on the screens at Yun Lai Eating House at Geylang Lorong 15.
About 50m away, about 10 plainclothes policemen wearing T-shirts and jeans on routine patrol had noticed something suspicious.
They were from the Specialised Crime Branch of the Criminal Investigation Department, and something on one of the tables had caught their eye.
Among the beer mugs, soft drink cans and newspapers was an open laptop.
Next to it was a blue A5-sized notebook, with entries written inside, and a pen.
Sensing something was amiss, the officers went into the coffee shop and conducted checks, speaking in Hokkien.
They found over $3,000 on some customers, who were suspected of being involved in illegal betting and bookmaking during the match, which had kicked off about an hour earlier.
The officers then arrested nine suspects, who surrendered meekly with their heads held low.
The suspects, all Singaporean or Singapore PRs aged between 27 and 64, were handcuffed and led to a white van.
They were driven to the Police Cantonment Complex at New Bridge Road for further investigations.
The items found on them were seized and placed in transparent bags.
The New Paper observed that the operation took about 30 minutes.
During this time, some customers at the coffee shop became more engrossed in the arrests than in watching the match.
But some suspects could not take their eyes off the TV screens despite being handcuffed.
Two suspects are expected to be charged on Friday. The others are still being investigated.
A police spokesman told TNP that they take a very serious view against all forms of illegal gambling activities and will continue to take strict enforcement action.
He said: "We would like to advise members of the public to not gamble or place bets with illegal bookmakers.
Tough laws
"They are also reminded of the tough laws and consequences of being arrested and prosecuted in court for illegal gambling activities."
Since the start of Euro 2012, four raids have been conducted on illegal betting, with 13 people arrested.
In Singapore, it is illegal to place football bets with any bookmaker other than Singapore Pools.
It is also an offence to announce, exhibit or publish material that would invite or solicit a person to make an illegal bet or wager.
The people arrested on Thursday are not the only Singaporeans suspected of using football matches to make money illegally.
TNP reported yesterday that Singaporean Dan Tan Seet Eng, 47, has been named as a leader and organiser of a global match-fixing syndicate in Italian court papers.
It has also been reported that illegal bookies have been asking customers to subscribe to their betting services using the popular messaging application WhatsApp.
If convicted, illegal bookies can be fined $20,000 to $200,000 and jailed up to five years.
Those who place bets with them can be fined up to $5,000 and/or jailed for up to six months.
During the 2010 World Cup, Interpol coordinated raids by police from Singapore, China, Malaysia and Thailand on more than 800 illegal gambling dens that had handled more than US$155 million (S$198 million) in bets.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
