Malaysian A.G. urges clampdown on internet gambling
News on 28 Oct 2014
News on 28 Oct 2014
The Malaysian Attorney-General is alarmed by the rise in illegal gambling – much of it through mobile and online channels – and is to submit to the federal government a proposal to either amend the existing law or draft a new law to curb the burgeoning pastime, according to reports in the Malaysian media Tuesday.
Asked to comment on views in several quarters that the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 was obsolete, and that local authorities did not have sufficient powers, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said:
“It is necessary not because the existing law is obsolete, the problem now is because many illegal gambling activities are done online.”
The AG said that before any submissions to government were made there would be consultation with relevant government enforcement agencies, meaning that the proposal to government was unlikely to be made before next year.
In related news, it appears that the Malaysian Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar has set a rather ambitious timeline for the eradication of illegal online gambling.
According to several local media reports, he has issued a “stern directive” to all police chiefs in the country to eradicate all cyber gambling premises within seven days…and failure to do so will result in transfer within 24 hours!
One police chief, Dato Sri Wira Muhammad Sabtu Osman in Sarawak province, immediately advised that he was intensifying the war against cyber gambling in a province that has already been acknowledged as one of the most vigorous in enforcement in the country.
He said that the war against cyber gambling in Sarawak had been pursued since January, when Operation Dice was launched.
As of October 26, 2014 out of the 2,547 raids carried out, 906 were successful, resulting in 2,479 suspects arrested, he added, apart from 11,367 sets of computers and RM294,865 confiscated during the same period.
To prove to his boss that he meant business, Osman launched a special 24-hour Dice Operation blitz from 8am on Oct 26 to 8am on Oct 27, during which 51 raids were carried out resulting in 18 individuals arrested and 134 computer sets were seized.
