Illegal gambling in Singapore earned father and son jail sentences
Two people arrested for running an international gambling syndicate that collected bets on Singapore Pool's legal lotteries were this week sentenced to prison terms and heavy fines.
Family business ends up in jail
Tuesday, December 15, Ow Choon Bok, a 44-year-old Singaporean resident and his father, Ow Gowan Hock, 73, were sentenced to five i three and a half a year in prison, as well as financial sanctions S USD 500 000 respectively i 300 000 S $. The financial part of the sentences will be replaced by an additional prison term of 10 months and 6 months respectively if they are unable to pay the fine.
The duo has been charged with crimes ranging from 7 years, starting in 2009, And an estimated turnover of 889,814 S $ for 6-month June to November 2016 period. In 2016 alone. The pair pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide remote gambling services in Singapore, including through the illegal ss772.net website, which is now defunct.
The scope of their illegal activities included betting on public lotteries such as the "10,000 character lottery", 4D games and Toto Singapore Pools.
Choon Bok was tasked with managing the administrative staff who collected bets on the website, ensuring the smooth operation of the website, and collecting bets on the results of the 4D and Toto games on their respective weekdays. Choon Bok also allowed the syndicate to use its unit located in Johor Bahru between June and November 2016. To assist in the operation of illegal gambling services.
His father's role was to help run the illegal bookmaking site, including accepting payments for the business into his bank accounts. Before the gambling operation was stopped, police found illegal proceeds in height 57 000 S $ in Punggol's apartment in Edgedale Plains, hidden by Choon Bok.
Aggregate fines limited to profits
A total of 19 charges were raised against Choon Bok, but he pleaded guilty to only 6 of them in court, including on the Remote Gambling Act, the Act organised i law on common gaming houses. The court also heard that Choon had no previous criminal history, unlike his father, who had been fined numerous times since 1970 for gambling in a public or shared gambling house.
Although the deputy public prosecutor demanded four years in prison and S800 000 $ and S600 000 $ fine for the son and father, a statement by Gowan Hock's lawyers that his client pleaded guilty, made charitable donations and had multiple illnesses in addition to old age. who ruled that the evidence showed that only 800 000 S $ and limited the fines to that amount.
The judge further noted that the final date for payment of the fine would be the last day of any prison sentence.
