SHAH ALAM, March 25 — Sixty-one individuals, all locals, who were charged in the Magistrate’s Court today for assisting in the management of an illegal gambling centre at a shopping mall in Subang Jaya last week, pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The charges were read to all the accused, aged between 20 and 40, by the court interpreter in front of magistrate Mohamad Reza Azhar Rezali; Magistrate Muhammad Syafiq Sulaiman; Magistrate Farah Rosnan and Magistrate Sasha Diana Sabtu.
According to the charge sheet, 58 were charged with assisting in the management of the illegal gambling premises and three others were charged with abetting in the management and operation of the premises at Sky Park @ One City, Subang Jaya as a platform for gambling.
The individuals were accused of commiting the offences at Sky Park @ One City, Subang Jaya at 3.15pm on March 18 under Section 4(1)(C) Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.
The prosecution team led by Deputy Public Prosecutor Nurul Farah Sofea Norazman; Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian; Saidah Fasihah Che Yussoff and Annur Athirah Amran offered RM10,000 for each individual.
Lawyers Navin Punj, Dinesh Kumar, Premjeet Singh Gil, Paramjit Kaur and New Sin Yew who represented all the accused, pleaded for a lower bail amount because they have families to take care and the fact that all had cooperated with the police.
The bail amount was later reduced to between RM4,000 and RM6,000 and dates for mention of the case set for June 11 and 15.
Earlier, Selangor Police chief Datuk Hussein Omar Khan had said 84 individuals including a Thai national who is believed to have developed the online application for gambling were detained at a shopping mall in Subang Jaya on March 18.
He added that during the 3.15pm raid, 94 lap top computers, 105 handphones, six luxury vehicles and RM15,849 cash were seized.
Initial investigations revealed that the syndicate had registered the business as a company providing information technology and the individuals employed to develop the online gambling application for the Thailand, Brazil, China and Vietnam markets.
— Bernama
