Singaporeans, Thais arrested for alleged online gambling operation in Chiang Mai

Police said the suspects had revealed that the website was financed by a Malaysian businessman. PHOTO: THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

SARAPHEE (THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Two Singaporean men and two Thai women have been arrested for allegedly running a gambling website in Chiang Mai province.

Immigration Police Region 5 on Wednesday (July 15) announced the arrest of Singaporeans Chay and Anthony (last names withheld), and Thai citizens Natpaphas and Piyaporn, at a house in Chiang Mai's Saraphee district for running a gambling website.

"We had received a tip-off from local villagers about an illegal online operation at the house and had requested a search warrant from Chiang Mai provincial court to investigate the house, along with police from Saraphee Station," said an Immigration Police officer.

"At the scene, we found the four suspects using laptop computers to run an online gambling website and using several mobile phones to contact customers, so we arrested the suspects and confiscated all evidence for further investigation."

Police said the suspects had revealed that the website was financed by a Malaysian businessman who hired famous Thai event models, also known as "pretties", to host live sessions online to attract customers into gambling on the website.

Police are investigating the website to track down the owner as well.

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