Woman admits to being an agent of husband's criminal group that raked in over $26m in about 6 months

SINGAPORE - A woman has admitted in court that she was an agent of her husband's organised criminal group, which earned more than $26.6 million in about six months through unlawful gambling activities.

Wong Choi San, 67, also admitted she had collected illegal 4-D bets from punters including her brothers and friends.

She pleaded guilty on Monday (Oct 2) to two charges under the Remote Gambling Act, and one charge under the Organised Crime Act.

At the time of the offences, Wong was married to Seet Sian Thian, then 74. He was sentenced to 4½ years' jail and given a fine of $141,000 in August 2022 after pleading guilty to four charges, including two under the Organised Crime Act.

Seet was one of three brothers who were leaders of the organised criminal group.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Chong Yong said Wong used to receive a monthly allowance of $1,500 from her husband for household expenses.

Some time in 2013, she told him that she wanted a higher allowance.

He suggested that she could help out by driving one Tok Poh Ling, 50, who was also a member of the organised criminal group, to Malaysia every Wednesday and Saturday.

Wong was aware that she was driving Ms Tok to Malaysia for the latter to work at the group's operation centre in Johor Bahru.

Wong's allowance was then increased to $2,700.

Police arrested Wong in November 2016. She is expected to be sentenced at a later date.

In March 2022, her brother-in-law Seet Seo Boon, then 57, was sentenced to nine years, eight months and two weeks' jail, as well as given a fine of $620,000.

The case involving another brother-in-law, Seet Seow Huat, 68, who is believed to be the third leader, is still pending.

A third brother-in-law, Seet Siau Khuang, 74, who was not one of the leaders, was sentenced in April 2022 to four weeks' jail and given a fine of $30,000 over unrelated unlawful gambling activities.

He still has pending charges, including one under the Organised Crime Act.

In earlier proceedings, the prosecution said the Seet brothers had been collecting illegal 4-D bets on behalf of unknown persons prior to 2011.

The prosecution added that a group of men, including Seet Seow Huat and Seet Seo Boon, decided to set up their own gambling website in 2011 to facilitate the collection of illegal 4-D bets from agents and punters.

The brothers then expanded their illegal remote gambling operations by personally and actively recruiting other agents as well as shareholders, who would collect illegal 4-D bets from punters on their behalf.

The brothers also actively encouraged members of the organised criminal group to refer and recruit other individuals into it.

Seet Sian Thian was later invited to the group and another remote gambling website was launched in 2013.

He also asked Wong to recruit her friends to place illegal bets. She then became a member of the organised criminal group.

DPP Chong said the group generated an average revenue of about $370,000 per 4-D draw date through one of the sites, earning about $1.11 million in revenue on average per week.

The DPP added that from June 1 to Nov 27, 2016, the group's revenue was about $26.64 million.

The outcome of Ms Tok's case was not stated in court documents.

This article was first published in The Straits Times. Permission required for reproduction.

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