IPOH: Police arrested eight locals for promoting online gambling in a house that had been converted into a call centre near here.
Ipoh OCPD Asst Comm A. Asmadi Abdul Aziz said the eight, six men and two women aged between 19 and 25, were arrested at the double-storey corner lot house in Ulu Kinta at about 6pm on Wednesday (Sept 30).
He said they had been in operations for about a month, with the main website based in China.
The clients, he said, were both from Malaysia and China.
“As a cover-up, the operators would invite customers via social media applications to click on the website for investment purposes, but part of the get-rich-scheme included gambling online.
“Once people got attracted to the website, and started earning money via gambling, they would become addicted to the applications, ” he told a press conference at the Ipoh district police headquarters here.
ACP Asmadi said eight laptops, 22 mobile phones, three notebooks, and four ATM cards were seized during the raid.
He said police would not hesitate to take stern action, including using the Prevention of Crime Act (Poca), against suspects who cheated people out of their money.
“Now with such difficult times due to several Covid-19 restrictions, they must not take advantage and lure people to earn fast money.
“There is no easy way to become rich. In the end, instead of making money, one may lose everything they have, ” he said.
He said the eight, three of whom had criminal records, would be remanded until Sunday (Oct 4).
The case, he said, was being investigated under Section 4(1)(c) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953. -The Star