8 men arrested for illegal football betting

SINGAPORE - A total of eight men, aged between 28 and 48, have been arrested for allegedly being involved in illegal football bookmaking and punting activities.

Officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the Police Intelligence Department (PID) conducted islandwide operations in Clementi West, Jelapang Road, Tampines, Bedok Central, Jalan Kembangan, Boon Tiong Road, Hougang, Upper Boon Keng Road and Jalan Chermat, on Tuesday and Wednesday.

During the operations, officers seized about $190,000 in cash, as well as computers, laptops, mobile phones and documents including betting records.

The suspects are believed to have received bets amounting to about $750,000 in the past two weeks.

Someone who is found to have bet with a bookmaker could be fined up to $5,000, jailed up to six months, or both.

Any person found to be involved in bookmaking can be fined between $20,000 and $200,000, and could also be jailed up to five years.

ljessica@sph.com.sg