33 People Arrested For Illegal Gambling At Bencoolen Street, Over $60K Confiscated

Betting, gaming and participating in a lottery can be legal in Singapore as long as you meet the age requirements and use legal services.

Participate in anything outside of those, though, and you could be liable for the police to crack down on you.

We take a look at such a case that occurred recently.

Dozens Arrested For Gambling

According to Lianhe Zaobao, a woman in her 40s had rented out an apartment to be used as a gambling den.

The unit was in a condominium at Burlington Square on Bencoolen Street.

Around 24 September, at 12.15am, the police were alerted to a large gathering of people in the unit

A reader of Shin Min Daily also reported that the police came around 1am and conducted a raid.

In total, 15 men and 18 women between the ages of 25 to 80 were arrested for offences under the Common Gaming Houses Act and Remote Gambling Act 2014.

All of them were was found to be engaged in illegal gambling activities.

Over S$60,000 and gambling-related items and equipment were confiscated.

Additionally, the 33 are also being investigated for breaching safe distancing measures.

Carried On For Weeks

It was not a one-day affair.

A 47-year-old housewife noted that the house had two bedrooms and one living room but saw a lot of people inside.

She said that the woman in her 40s had stayed in the unit and moved to a new tenant two months ago.

Apparently, people were constantly going in and out of the house four to five days a week.

In fact, this exchange went on for three weeks.

The housewife believed that some neighbours couldn’t stand it and went to the police.

Around eight police cars and two security guards came and sealed off the exit to prevent anyone from going in or out.

At 3am, six young women were taken out of the apartment by police in cable ties.

This was followed by six older women, though one was elderly and required police assistance.

Soon after, the police brought out seven more women, 6 middle-aged men and 5 young men.

Lastly, four more men, assumedly the den’s operators, were brought out after 40 minutes.

Heavy Consequences

While they have not been officially charged yet, Singapore imposes strict regulations when it comes to illegal gambling.

Anyone found guilty of gaming in a common gaming house will be liable for a fine up to S$5,000, or to imprisonment for a term up to 6 months, or to both.

Gambling with remote communications also provides similar punishments.

Meanwhile, if you’re an organiser or manager of such events, you can be liable on conviction to a fine of not less than S$20,000 and not more than S$200,000, a jail term not exceeding five years, or both.

You can read more about Singapore’s in-depth gambling laws over here.

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