The Singapore police arrested 31 men and seized about S$1.2 million in cash for illegal football betting during 2018 FIFA World Cup on Monday, July 4.
Police said in a new release on Tuesday, July 5. During the islandwide operation, officers raided several locations such as Boon Lay, Jalan Sultan, Sembawang, Orchard Road, Tampines, Ang Mo Kio, Chinatown, Balestier, Sengkang, Hougang and Bukit Batok. Police also said that all these suspects are aged between 22 and 74.
Police found records of betting, computers, mobile phones and other documents from all the betting locations. Officers said that in past two weeks those alleged offenders have collected almost more than S$4 million.
As reported, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Investigation and Intelligence) Florence Chua said that the operation was conducted as a part of the police's continuous efforts on the search of illegal gambling acts, especially during the World Cup.
In addition, he also stated that police has taken a serious view against such unlawful gambling activity and will continue their activities to stamp out the criminals, including those who operated such syndicates.
The investigation on all those arrested men is going on.
Under the Common Gambling House Act,
- Gaming houses declared public nuisances
Any person who:
| (a) | being the owner or occupier or having the use temporarily or otherwise thereof keeps or uses a place as a common gaming house; |
| (b) | permits a place of which he is the owner or occupier or of which he has used temporarily or otherwise to be kept or used by another person as a common gaming house; |
| (c) | has the care or management of or in any manner assists in the management of a place kept or used as a common gaming house; |
| (d) | announces or publishes or causes to be announced or published, either orally or by means of any print, writing, design, sign or otherwise, that any place is opened, kept or used as a common gaming house, or in any other manner invites or solicits any person to commit a breach of section 7, 8 or 9; or |
| (e) | conducts in or through any newspaper or any other periodical publication, or in connection with any trade or business or the sale of any article to the public —
|
- Assisting in carrying on a public lottery, etc.
Any person who-
| (a) | assists in the carrying on of a public lottery; |
| (b) | receives, directly or indirectly, any money or money's worth for or in respect of any chance in any event or contingency connected with a public lottery or sells or offers for sale or gives or delivers or collects any lottery ticket; |
| (c) | draws, throws, declares or exhibits, expressly or otherwise, the winner or winning number, ticket, lot, figure, design, symbol or other results of any public lottery; or |
| (d) | writes, prints or publishes or causes to be written, printed or published any lottery ticket or list of prizes or any announcement of the result of a public lottery or any announcement or riddle relating to a public lottery, |
| -shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000 and shall also be punished with imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years. |
