Techies believed behind crimes

SHAH ALAM: Collectively, they had an impressive curriculum vitae – 61 Malaysian software developers, information technology (IT) managers, web and graphic designers, marketing as well as development and business analysts.

All were charged at four different Magistrate’s Courts here under Section 4(1)(c) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, which is also punishable under Section 4(1) of the same Act.

According to the facts of the case, the 49 men and 12 women, aged between 23 and 43, were allegedly involved in helping and managing outlets that were being used as common gaming premises.

All pleaded not guilty and claimed trial after the charges were read before magistrates Mohamad Redza Azhar Rezali, Sasha Diana Sabtu, Farah Rosnan and Muhammad Syafiq Sulaiman.

A combined bail amounting to more than RM300,000 was imposed on all 61 accused by the magistrates.

If found guilty, the accused men and women are liable to a jail term of up to three years and a maximum fine of RM50,000 as well as an additional RM50,000 penalty for every gaming machine that had been seized by the authorities.

Deputy public prosecutors Nurul Farah Sofea Norazman, Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian, Saidah Fasihah Che Yussoff and Annur Athirah Amran prosecuted while counsels Paramjit Kaur, Premjeet Singh Gill, Navin Punj, Dinesh Kumar and New Sin Yew appeared for all the accused.

The prosecution had initially offered bail at RM10,000 per person but the defence pleaded for bail to be set at RM1,500 each.

The four magistrates then fixed bail between RM4,000 and RM6,000 each and set May 15 and June 11 for the case to be mentioned as well as for the submission of the relevant documents.

It is believed that the 61 people charged were among the 84 people arrested when police busted a syndicate suspected of developing online gambling platforms for overseas markets.

After the arrests last week, Selangor police chief Comm Datuk Hussein Omar Khan told the media that the suspects were nabbed during a raid at One City in Jalan USJ 25/1 in Subang Jaya on March 18.

Comm Hussein had said the suspects were all experts in information technology and employees of a gambling syndicate.

“They were paid between RM5,000 and RM20,000 per month to build online gambling platforms.

“The platforms were meant for overseas markets such as Thailand, Brazil, China and Vietnam. This also means that the syndicate has ties with criminal syndicates in those countries,” Comm Hussein told a press conference on March 22.