Illegal online gambling is big business in Malaysia

Due to energetic police enforcement efforts, Malaysia has become a risky area for illegal online gambling operators, but it remains a lucrative and tempting business with yearly revenues estimated at RM 7.9 billion, according to a weekend report in the publication Metro Ahad.

Much of the illegal betting is carried out online through makeshift internet cafes concealed behind other businesses, and tip-offs are often the first indication police have of an illegal enterprise.

In its estimate of the illegal market’s value, Metro Ahad factored in the RM 10,000 daily profit made by online bookies based on statistics from the 2,167 raids carried out by authorities at illegal premises nationwide in March 2014 alone. The real figure is probably substantially bigger.

A senior officer with the federal police’s D7 (secret societies, gambling and vice) unit, Senior Assistant Commissioner Roslee Chik, told Metro Ahad that with start up capital of RM 50,000, bookies can take in between RM 7,000 to RM 10,000 a day in a small premises and with few customers.

But most of the syndicates have regular customers and can draw around RM 15,000 a day, he said.

The majority of bookies use cyber cafe licenses, snooker centres, and even restaurants as fronts for their illegal activities, he revealed.