27 influencers arrested for allegedly promoting illegal online gambling sites, says Bukit Aman CID director

KUALA LUMPUR: Cops nabbed 27 social media influencers for allegedly promoting illegal online gambling sites.

Bukit Aman CID director Comm Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain (pic) said the influencers - 23 women and four men - aged between 21 and 35, were detained in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Johor, Perlis, Kedah and Penang on Thursday (June 13).

"Initial investigations revealed that gambling syndicates hired the suspects based on their number of followers on social media.

"Each influencer is paid between RM1,500 and RM8,000, for one social media platform, depending on their number of followers.

"We believe each influencer is active on more than two social media platforms," he told a press conference at Bukit Aman on Friday (June 14).

A total of 30 mobile phones were seized in the operation, he said.

"On top of selling their products such as beauty products, the influencers also promote online gambling sites.

"We believe they were hired by multiple syndicates and they have been active for about a year," he said.

Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the police will investigate further to track down the syndicates responsible for hiring the influencers.

"We are investigating the influencers under the Open Gaming House Act and Section 233 of the Malaysia Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) act," he added.

In another case, five individuals, including two girls aged 17 and 12, were detained for promoting prostitution, sex videos and unlicensed sexual stimulants on social media, Comm Mohd Shuhaily said.

"Those detained were a local woman, two local girls, a 20-year-old Indonesian man and a 26-year-old Indonesian woman.

"Initial investigations revealed that on top of selling their "products", the suspects would even have sexual intercourse with their customers for a fee.

"The group is led by a 27-year-old local woman known as "Miza Ozawa", who has a prior criminal record for assaulting her mother.

"She along with the two Indonesian citizens were actors in sexually explicit videos that they were selling before their arrests, while the girls were helpers, on the technical aspect," he said.

Police seized RM30,000 cash, a laptop and several mobile phones in the raid, he said.

"We believe they earned about RM20,000 a month.

"Each subscription to the sex videos is priced between RM450 and RM550.

"They have been remanded until June 20 for further investigation," he said.