Scam and illegal betting ring busted, 21 nabbed in KL

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 21 suspects have been detained for suspected involvement in a scam and illegal gambling syndicate.

Sentul OCPD Asst Comm Beh Eng Lai said 18 men and three women aged 20 to 45 were arrested in a raid on a condominium unit in Desa Park City at 2.30pm on Sunday (March 26).

"The syndicate operates a scam call centre and promotes online gambling via a website.

"We also seized 21 computers and 65 mobile phones," he told a press conference at Sentul district police headquarters here on Wednesday (March 29).

Eight of those detained had criminal records, he added.

"We believe one suspect, a 35-year-old man, was the syndicate's supervisor," he added.

ACP Beh said the syndicate has been active since last month and operated 12 hours a day.

"The syndicate members' job is to find customers online by offering gambling activities and opening accounts.

"Customers will then be asked to top up their gambling accounts to get credits to gamble with.

"Each customer is required to top up a minimum of HK$100 (RM56) as a registration fee. The syndicate mainly targeted victims from Hong Kong," he said.

The syndicate reaped about HK$600,000 (RM336,314) in profits after operating for a month, ACP Beh added.

"We will be unrelenting in fighting these online scam and gambling syndicates.

"Those with information on similar syndicates should contact Sentul police at 03-40482222," he said.