$26m gambling syndicate agent first to be convicted under the Organised Crimes Act
A 55-year-old man became the first person to be convicted under the Organised Crimes Act (OCA), which came into force on 1 June 2016, for his role in an elaborate multi-million dollar gambling syndicate.
Or Poh Soon pleaded guilty on Friday (8 June) in the State Courts to one charge of being part of an organised criminal group, one charge of managing remote bets and another of assisting in carrying on of a public lottery.
A fourth charge of collecting cash illegally obtained by an organised criminal group was taken into consideration.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Teo Lu Jia told the court that one of the six websites the syndicate ran had a turnover of $26.64 million between 1 June 2016 and 27 November 2016.
A large-scale operation against the syndicate on 27 November 2016 resulted in 49 arrests, which included Or and some key syndicate leaders.
Or joined the group as an agent in January 2013. His role was to find and manage punters and collect illegal bets based on the same draw dates and winning numbers as Singapore Pools’ “4D” and “TOTO” lottery games. He would receive an 8 to 10 per cent commission on the total bets he collected.
Or made about $288 a month in 2013. As his pool of regular punters grew to at least 20, his commissions increased to about $2,400 a month by the end of 2016.
By contrast, Or used to earn $1,500 a month as a newspaper vendor near Beauty World Centre, Bukit Timah Road. He was recruited by Lean Kay Cheong, 62, who used to buy newspapers from him.
An elaborate racket
The syndicate’s lottery tickets were priced cheaper than Singapore Pools’ in order to attract punters. Or’s job was to collect and keep track of the bets from his pool of gamblers, who would call or text him.
Or would then send the collated bets to Lean via text, who would then key in the bets onto one of six websites the syndicate ran. Lean had workers based in Malaysia to help with the operations. A runner handled the cash transfers between Lean and Or, who disbursed the winnings.
Lean managed a cluster of about 95 agents, of which only six, including Or, have been arrested so far.
There were two other such clusters, all of which reported to a trio of brothers: Seet Seow Huat Eric, 63, Seet Seow Boon Steven, 54, and Seet Sian Thian Philip, 71.
The Seet brothers ran six websites in all, supported by multiple computer technicians, administrative staff, runners, and agents in a system of subsidiaries and shareholders, said DPP Teo.
One such site had an estimated turnover of about $26.64 million in 4D bets in the five-month period between OCA coming into force and the arrests being made.
Or will next appear in court on 27 June. For being part of a syndicate, he could be jailed up to five years, fined up to $100,000, or both.
He faces up to five years’ jail, or a fine between $20,000 and $200,000, or both for his role as an agent. He also faces the same sentence for assisting in carrying on of a public lottery.
The Seet brothers and Lean have also been charged. Many of the remaining 44 are yet to be charged.
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Six persons become first to be charged under Organised Crime Act
