KUALA LUMPUR (June 21, 2010): Loan sharks, or Ah Longs, could be masterminding some of the football betting syndicates that have been busted by police with the arrest of 120 suspected illegal bookies nationwide since the World Cup started 11 days ago.

Mohd Bakri Zinin

Police say while there is evidence that the loan sharks are offering loan packages to World Cup punters, they do not discount the possibility that the Ah Longs are actually associated with the betting syndicates.

"We are also investigating if those behind the betting syndicates are the Ah Longs themselves," Federal CID director Datuk Seri Mohd Bakri Zinin told a press conference today.

He said many members of the syndicate have fled the country following police's massive operation "but we will continue tracking them down. We know who they are and they will have to return to Malaysia eventually".

Mohd Bakri said they nabbed 120 people aged between 15 and 73 in 156 raids under Ops Soga and believed they are members of three major syndicates. These people had received wagers of about RM300.7 million from an estimated 300,000 bettors.

He said police investigators have found brochures carrying the logos and photos of the World Cup and contact details distributed by the loan sharks.

Mohd Bakri said a 15-year-old teenage student was the youngest suspect arrested and he was in the midst of taking bets from punters when police busted him along with others in Subang Jaya last week.

Asked if police had busted more illegal bookies for this World Cup compared to 2006, Mohd Bakri said "Definitely".

"We only arrested a few of them in three raids in 2006. Four years ago, we were still studying their tactics and modus operandi. Tracking them down was not easy. Moreover, we were not well equipped at that time. Now, we know how they operate and we have the equipment and the cooperation of our counterparts in other countries to assist us with information," he said.

Months before the World Cup, police personnel of the anti-vice, gaming and secret society had meetings with Interpol to discuss ways to beat the syndicates.

Police had identified four main websites which were linked to local illegal bookmakers.

Police statistics showed punters in Johor placed some RM40 million in illegal bets while Selangor and Perak followed with RM20 million each.

Those arrested are being probed by police under the Betting Act and could face up 20 years' jail and fines of up to RM200,000.

Among the suspects in custody are architects, accountants and company executives.

The operators of these illegal betting syndicates take bets either directly or deduct from a pre-paid purse or account.

As a result of the crackdown, police believe hundreds of bettors may have lost huge amounts of money which they had either won or the deposits they had paid to the nabbed bookies.

Meanwhile, in the latest raid in the Klang Valley yesterday at about 7pm, an anti-vice gambling and secret society from the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters raided an apartment unit at the Bayu Puteri condominiums near Tropicana, Damansara where a middle aged couple were arrested illegal bookmaking activities.

Police said the man and woman aged 45 and 49 were in the midst of taking bets from their clients when the police team came knocking on their door at their house on the 13th floor of the condominiums.

It is learnt that the couple raked in between RM60,000 and RM70,000 in bets daily over the past week.

Police also seized two laptops and RM4,000.

The couple's two teenage daughters, who were at home at the time, were handed over to their relatives by police.

IN JOHOR BARU, Johor police have detained five people, believed to be taking bets, totaling RM6 million, on the World Cup

matches at various locations in the state between Tuesday and Friday last week.

Johor police chief Datuk Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said the suspects, aged between 30 and 45, were detained at Taman Delima in Kluang, Taman Megah Ria in Masai and Taman Gaya in Ulu Tiram following public tip offs.

Several items, including five laptops, modem facsimile machines, handphones and betting papers, were seized in the raids, he told reporters here today, reports Bernama.

Meanwhile in TEMERLOH, a man believed to be running illegal betting for the World Cup matches was detained at a house in Kampung Baru, Mentakab, at 10.30pm yesterday.

Police believed the 48-year-old man had been taking bets of almost RM25,000 every day since the start of the World Cup tournament.

Temerloh police chief ACP Ahmad Fadzillah Mohamed said police seized RM3,065, a laptop, a note book, a handphone and papers, believed to be betting slips, from the suspect's house.

In SEREMBAN, Bernama reports that the Negri Sembilan police believed they had crippled a syndicate involved in taking bets on the World Cup matches with the arrest of five people in Jelubu, Seremban and Jempol.

Negri Sembilan police chief Datuk Osman Salleh said the suspects, including two rubber tappers and a sales promoter, were detained at several locations between June 16 and 18.

Police seized four laptops, 14 handphones, a desktop computer, two modems, three broadband equipment, a Proton Iswara and RM14,224, he added.

In MALACCA, police detained 14 punters on suspicion of collecting bets on the World Cup matches in raids conducted in Central Malacca, Alor Gajah and Jasin since June 11.

Malacca police chief SAC1 Datuk Mohd Rodwan Mohd Yusof said the suspects were locals and aged between 15 and 45.

A desktop computer, six laptops, eight handphones, a printer, a modem, note book and RM4,000 were among items seized, he added.-- theSun