Malaysian court jails illegal operators

Twenty-four Malaysian and Taiwanese nationals were fined and sentenced to a month in jail by a Malaysian court this week following a raid on April 5 that netted 215 people for running what was described as a well funded online football betting ring.

Over its month of operation, the website is estimated to have taken four billion ringgit ($1.3 billion) in bets and other income according to initial Police investigations. The bets on English Premier League football games and other online gambling offerings were operated in conjunction with Mexican syndicates, reported Agence France-Presse. Other income is said to have been derived from internet credit card scams.

Lawyer for ten of the accused Zaflee Pakwanteh said: “As the authorities found it difficult to charge them with fraud as the offence took place overseas, they were charged on immigration offences like entering Malaysia illegally without a passport or using fake travel documents.” Fines ranged between 1 000 and 2 500 ringgit.

Six of the accused have denied charges and will stand trial scheduled for next month (May).