SINGAPORE: A 68-year-old Singaporean man who was convicted in 2021 for providing remote gambling services was ordered to pay the state about S$4.12 million (US$3.08 million) by the High Court after it granted a confiscation order against him, the police said on Tuesday (Dec 10).
Lean Kay Cheong, who was arrested in 2016, was found to have accumulated unexplained wealth through his illegal activities over the years. These include his investments, insurance policies, and commercial and residential properties.
The amount he had accumulated was disproportionate to his known sources of income, the police said in a press release.
The public prosecutor applied for the confiscation and realisation order, which was granted by the High Court on Nov 20.
“Lean was ordered to pay a total sum of approximately S$4.12 million to the State,” the police added.
A confiscation order is issued to prevent people from benefitting from a crime.
Lean was arrested on Nov 27, 2016, along with 49 other people in an operation by the Criminal Investigation Department against organised crime groups, which saw a total of S$25.5 million seized by the authorities.
Police investigations revealed that Lean was one of the three leaders and a shareholder of the syndicate that provided remote gambling services to facilitate lottery and horse betting since 2007.
“The illegal business was syndicated and also linked to operatives working in Malaysia,” the police said.
Lean led a cluster made up of an IT technician, a runner, a “master agent” and agents who collected bets entered into www.peng888.com. He would also receive a cut of the profit from two other websites.
His cluster alone had 95 agents and one of the agents that Lean recruited was a newspaper vendor, Or Poon Soh, who helped Lean collect illegal 4D and Toto bets totalling up to S$640,000 over four years
On Jun 8, 2018, Or was the first person to be convicted under the Organised Crime Act, a law aimed at fighting crime syndicates that came into effect in June 2016.
He was sentenced to two years in jail and fined S$50,000.
On Apr 19, 2021, Lean was sentenced to nine years in jail and fined S$447,000 after he was convicted under the Remote Gambling Act and the Organised Crime Act.
For his offences under the Organised Crime Act, he could have been fined up to S$100,000, jailed up to five years, or both.
Under the Remote Gambling Act and Common Gaming Houses Act, he could have been fined between S$20,000 and S$200,000, jailed for up to five years, or both.
