Ex-Singapore pools employees charged

Two former Singapore Pools employees were charged on Wednesday with conspiracy to cheat their employer by manipulating football betting odds.

The alleged offences by Singapore permanent resident Ricky Widjaja and Singaporean Tong Heng Huat resulted in a loss of $198,500 for Singapore Pools.

Widjaja, 25, and Tong, 31, had allegedly secured access through a Singapore Pools server to a programme called Margin Maker 2 (MM2) between August 2011 and January 2012.

Once inside MM2, they were then said to have manipulated the odds for "Total Goals: Over/Under" bets.

Court papers said the men took turns to place bets and collect their winnings at Singapore Pools outlets.

The football matches where bets were placed included games in the S-League, Malaysian Super League, Australian Football League, English Premier League and international friendlies.

Winnings

The betting amounts ranged between $12,000 and $38,000 with winnings as much as $44,000.

They each face 52 charges of intention to commit an offence with abetment under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act.

If found guilty, each of them can be jailed a maximum 10 years or fined not more than $50,000, or both.

Widjaja was offered $200,000 bail, while Tong was offered $150,000 bail.

zaihan@sph.com.sg

This article was published on Aug 23 in The New Paper.

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