The football betting syndicate busted by the George Town police was accepting online bets from countries as far away as Italy, Spain and Britain.
OCPD Asst Comm Hamzah Md Jamil said at a press conference here Thursday that investigations showed that the bookie was able to rake in bets of more than RM5mil in a day from a variety of leagues such as the Spanish La Liga and Portugal Super Liga.
“That amount is only for the weekday matches. He can easily accept bets of up RM10mil for the weekend matches when popular teams such as Manchester United, AC Milan, Barcelona and Liverpool are playing.
“Eight computers are switched on at any one time and he will be busy keying in the bets for his customers.
"Communication are usually via email and payments are made via on-line banking,” he added.
“The bookie, who is from Padang Besar, Perlis, had been active since early this year."
He obtained the online betting expertise when he worked as a runner in a similar syndicate in the Philippines last year.
Eight personal computers and accessories such as modems, a television set, a printer and 25 betting sheets were seized with the arrest of the bookie on Tuesday.
ACP Hamzah said the bookie is liable to be charged under the Common Gaming House Act 1953 which carries a jail term of up to five years and a fine of up to RM200,000.
The (Malaysia) Star
