9 arrested for gaming offences
AsiaOne
Wednesday, Nov 21, 2012
SINGAPORE - 8 men and 1 woman, aged between 46 to 75 years old, have been arrested for gaming offences in two separate cases.
At about 7.30pm yesterday, officers from Ang Mo Kio Police Division arrested a 47-year-old man in the vicinity of Yishun Ave 11 for suspected involvement in assisting in an illegal public lottery.
Preliminary investigations indicated that he had assisted an illegal bookmaker by recruiting punters and collecting payments. One handphone and one laptop believed to be used in the commission of the offence were seized as case exhibits from him.
After follow-up investigations, the police arrested a 46-year-old man, who is believed to be responsible for providing illegal soccer accounts to punters, at about 5.10am this morning. He allegedly employed the 46-year-old as a runner.
One handphone believed to contain records of punters was seized as a case exhibit from him. Investigations against the two suspects are on-going.
In the second case, officers from Central Police Division arrested six men and one woman for operating and gaming in an illegal gambling den at a unit along Kitchener Road.
Preliminary investigations revealed that one of the male suspects, aged 57, is believed to be involved in managing the illegal gambling den. The remaining six suspects are believed to be patrons of the gambling den. Seventeen sets of computers, one modem, one switch box and cash amounting to over $870 were seized during the raid.
The 57-year-old operator of the gambling den will be charged in Court on Nov 22.
Two of the six patrons will also be charged in Court on the same day while investigations against the remaining patrons are ongoing.
Under the Common Gaming House Act, anyone who is found to have assisted in the carrying on of a public lottery shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000 and shall also be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
Under Section 4(1)(a) of the Common Gaming Houses Act, any person convicted of managing a place used as a Common Gaming House shall be liable to a fine of between $5,000 and $50,000 and be punished with imprisonment of up to three years.
As for the patrons, under Section 7 of the Common Gaming Houses Act, any person convicted of gaming in a common gaming house shall be liable on conviction to a fine of up to $5,000 or imprisonment of up to six months or to both.
