ELECTION BETTINING: Roslee shows a few of the betting slips and betting equipment seized at Penang police headquarters. — Bernama photo
GEORGE TOWN: Police detained six individuals believed to be bookies of an election betting syndicate and confiscated more than RM2 million in bets here yesterday.
Penang police’s election spokesman ACP Roslee Chik said acting on intelligence, police launched simultaneous raids on three separate homes in Sungai Nibong Kecil, Paya Terubong, and Jalan Air Itam from 3pm to 5pm on Friday and arrested the six men, aged between 26 and 55.
“In the raids, police confiscated more than RM2 million, 12 sets of computers, 67 betting slips, eight modems, a list of betting codes and two calculators,” he told reporters here yesterday.
Initial investigations found that 40,000 betting tickets were sold to customers online or over the phone for a minimum of RM50 per piece.
He added that Penang Police had set up 26 special investigating teams to monitor and detect such activities, with help from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), so that bookies do not influence the outcome of contests in today’s general election. — Bernama