The Police have charged two men, aged 38 and 48, and will be charging another five men and one woman, aged between 25 and 65, for their alleged involvement in an organised criminal group believed to be engaged in illegal remote gambling activities.
All eight suspects were arrested in a Police operation targeting criminal syndicates on 7 September 2020. Among them, six men and one woman were first charged on 8 September 2020 for offences under the Remote Gambling Act 2014 (“RGA”).
Two of the seven men have been charged on 25 October 2023, while another 38-year-old man will be charged on 26 October 2023 for offences under the Organised Crime Act 2015 (“OCA”) and the RGA.
The remaining five suspects will be charged on 30 October 2023, for offences under the OCA and the RGA. Among them, a 65-year-old man and a 56-year-old woman will also face additional charges under the Corruption, Drug Trafficking, and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act 1992 (“CDSA”).
Under the RGA, any person who provides unlawful remote gambling services for another shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than $20,000 and not more than $200,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.
Under the OCA, it is an offence to be a member of an organised criminal group. Any person who is, or acts as, a member of a locally-linked organised criminal group, shall be liable on conviction to a fine of not more than $100,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both. It is also illegal to instruct another person to commit offences for an organised criminal group, and the instructor may face enhanced punishment based upon the sentence for the offence that the instructor had instructed the other person to commit.
Under the CDSA, any person who converts or transfers any benefits from criminal conduct or removes it from jurisdiction shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $500,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years, or both.
SINGAPORE POLICE FORCE
25 October 2023 @ 6:05 PM