Rolling the dice on love: Cops bust gambling call centre that lured lonely hearts

KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 12 people have been arrested following raids on a love scam and online gambling call centre in the city.

Bukit Aman Commercial Crime Investigation Department (CCID) director Comm Datuk Seri Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said the suspects, aged 18 to 43, were found operating from a residential unit during the May 16 raid.

"We also seized several items including nine laptops, 33 mobile phones, five rings, six sling bags, foreign currencies in various denominations, and a necklace," he told a press conference at CCID headquarters here on Monday (May 27).

Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate had been operating since April, he said.

"The syndicate created fake social media accounts before getting to know victims in the United States.

"After befriending the targets, the suspects would lure them to gamble online via a web link," he added.

Comm Ramli said those who bet through the links would lose all their wagers.

"Those detained were the call centre's agents, who were paid RM2,500 monthly as well as a 4% commission from the total losses suffered by a victim.

"We are investigating under Sections 420 and 511 of the Penal Code," he said.

On another matter, Comm Ramli denied an allegation by a non-governmental organisation recently that police failed to investigate a case involving RM3.5mil of a company's stocks by classifying it as NFA (no further action).

"We conducted a thorough investigation and discovered the complainant already received 45% from the overall stocks sold.

"The agreement between the complainant and buyer also enabled him to file a civil suit should the buyer fail to make full payment for the stocks within a stipulated time.

"The case was referred to the KL chief prosecutor on Jan 30 and he agreed that the case was more towards a civil matter, thus it was classified as NFA," he said.

Comm Ramli said the necessary action was taken.

"Cases involving agreements cannot simply be classified as fraud or cheating.

"We remind everyone, especially the NGO, not to define the law based on their whims.

"As the complainant has the right to file a civil suit, I believe the NGO secretary, who is a lawyer, should represent the complainant in filing the civil suit," he said.