In a massive crackdown on Monday, police confiscated over S$1.2 million in cash during a sting operation targeting illegal World Cup Gambling.
So if you placed an illegal bet on a match, don’t count on getting that money back — no matter how well your team does.
According to the Singapore Police Force (SPF), their officers from multiple departments carried out simultaneous raids at 28 sites on Monday, making arrests of 31 men by the end of the operation.
A 45-second SPF-produced film with actual footage of the sting was released to the public yesterday. In an opening shot right out of the Ocean’s # franchise, we see four masked officers with industrial-strength grinders run into the frame and start cutting through the gate of a flat. Glowing metal sparks fly as bars are sliced through, while percussive action movie music plays in the background.
When the gate is finally busted open, the welders jump out of the way just in time for other officers to barrel through the wooden door with a battering ram.
The rest of the film shows various cuts of suspects being led away in handcuffs and police officers seizing betting records, mobile phones, computers, and yes, all that cash.
“This operation was conducted as part of the police’s ongoing efforts to stamp out unlawful remote gambling, especially during the ongoing FIFA World Cup,” said Florence Chua, Deputy Commissioner of Police Investigation and Intelligence.
“Police take a serious view against such activities and will continue to take tough enforcement actions against those who flout the law, including those who assist remote gambling syndicates in any way.”
Yeah, we got that from the action film you showed us with the all-star cast.
Police suspect the men collected more than S$4 million in illicit bets over the past two weeks.
Investigations are still ongoing, according to the SPF. Illegal gambling carries a sentence of up to five years in jail and fines ranging from $20,000 to $200,000. But we were scared away from this life of crime by the band of power tool-wielding policemen at the front door.
