A soccer betting and fraud ring busted by Malaysian police grossed more than US$1 billion, reports said yesterday, after an operation that led to the arrests of scores of Chinese and Taiwanese nationals.
Police conducted the raid in the city of Kajang, near Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, on Thursday after receiving a tip-off, the latest high-profile effort to clamp down on rampant illegal sports betting in Asia.
The Malaysia ring operated for a month from several luxury bungalows in an upscale gated community “home to several ministers and former cabinet members,” the Star newspaper reported.
Photo: AFP
Police believe the operation grossed nearly 4 billion ringgit (US$1.3 billion), it said.
The bungalows had closed-circuit video systems for security and police found “suspects engrossed in their laptops and telephones in a classroom-like atmosphere with all the tables neatly arranged in rows,” the report added.
Suspects were equipped with 241 mobile phones and 43 computers, the New Straits Times said.
Kajang police chief Abdul Rashid Abdul Wahab said on Thursday the group took bets on English Premier League soccer games and organized other forms of online gambling.
Soccer, particularly the English game, is hugely popular in Malaysia, but sports betting is illegal and those found guilty can be jailed.
Abdul Rashid said the group also carried out Internet scams that sought to obtain the credit card numbers of people in Taiwan, China and Portugal.
The Star said members had detailed scripts to follow in dealing with victims.
Abdul Rashid said 132 Chinese and Taiwanese nationals, along with five Malaysians, were arrested, but the Star quoted police sources saying 144 people were netted, including 54 women.
Reports quoted police as saying the foreign suspects, mostly in their 20s, had arrived in Malaysia early last month.
Neither the police nor the press reports have indicated who was behind the operation.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
SEA WARNING LIKELY: The storm, named Gaemi, could become a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, with the Taipei City Government preparing for flooding A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm named Gaemi at 2pm yesterday, and was moving toward eastern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Gaemi could begin to affect Taiwan proper on Tuesday, lasting until Friday, and could develop into a moderate typhoon on Wednesday or Thursday, it said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued as early as Tuesday morning, it added. Gaemi, the third tropical storm in the Pacific Ocean this typhoon season, is projected to begin moving northwest today, and be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday, the agency said. Today, there would likely
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old