SINGAPORE — A 66-year-old cleaner, who took illegal bets for horse races at a hawker centre while betting centres round Singapore were closed attributable to Covid-19, was jailed for two weeks and fined S$20,000 on Thursday (May 19).
Wee Yap Kwang was discovered responsible of receiving bets amounting to S$125 at a hawker centre at Block 628, Ang Mo Kio Avenue 4 on Feb 7 final 12 months.
He will serve one other two weeks’ jail as a result of he didn’t pay the fantastic, a courtroom heard.
At the time, bodily betting shops operated by gaming operator Singapore Pools had been shut since March 2020 across the interval of a partial lockdown. They solely reopened in July 2021 at a diminished capability.
The courtroom heard on Thursday that Wee was caught redhanded by a police officer, who was deployed to the hawker centre to look at illegal betting actions taking place.
Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ng Shao Yan mentioned that at about 2.10pm, the officer noticed a “mini congregation” at one of many tables,
“This involved several elderly male subjects approaching and handing over money to the accused. The accused was seen receiving and keeping the money,” DPP Ng mentioned.
After Wee left the hawker centre, a gaggle of law enforcement officials arrested him and located S$102 in money in his chest pocket and S$805 in his pockets.
Investigations revealed that he had obtained bets for horse races from three males:
- Cheng Joo Kok, 78, who positioned a S$25 wager. He was earlier convicted of illegal betting and fined S$800
- Tan Tze Yong, 70, who positioned a S$50 wager. He was given a stern warning
- Ow Ah Soo, 67, who positioned a S$50 wager. He was additionally given a stern warning
These congregations of punters and bookies — a lot of them were seniors — has swelled up to now 12 months or so, The Straits Times reported in April.
A police spokesperson was quoted within the newspaper as saying that greater than 2,400 individuals were arrested for illegal playing actions from 2019 to 2021, and 1 / 4 of those individuals were arrested for illegal horse betting actions.
In comparability, greater than 60 individuals were arrested for illegal horse betting in 2018.
On Thursday, DPP Ng requested for two weeks’ jail and a S$50,000 fantastic, noting that Wee had dedicated related offences up to now, although he added that a few of these offences were fairly dated.
Wee’s lawyer Audrey Koo from Populus Law requested for one week’s jail and a S$20,000 fantastic.
Ms Koo mentioned that the worth of the bets was small and referred to as it a “one-off incident”.
She added that when he was convicted of an identical offence in 2013 — gaming in public — he was fined S$1,000 then.
She additionally mentioned that Wee has little or no financial savings and suffers from melancholy and panic dysfunction. He requires surgical procedure to take away a tumour in his chest.
“We are humbly urging for mercy and urge your honour to impose the minimum sentence for my client.”
For performing as a bookmaker, Wee may have been fined between S$20,000 and S$200,000 and jailed as much as 5 years underneath the Betting Act.
66-year-old cleaner jailed 4 weeks for taking illegal bets while Singapore Pools’ betting centres were shut & More Latest News Update
66-year-old cleaner jailed 4 weeks for taking illegal bets while Singapore Pools’ betting centres were shut & More Live News
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66-year-old cleaner jailed 4 weeks for taking illegal bets while Singapore Pools’ betting centres were shut & More News Today
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