Jail, S$620,000 fine for leader of illegal online gambling ring that earned S$100m in revenue

SINGAPORE — A leader of a multimillion-dollar illegal online gambling syndicate, whose members were among the first to be charged under the Organised Crime Act, was sentenced to nine years, eight months and two weeks’ jail on Thursday (March 3).

Seet Seo Boon, who was also treasurer of the syndicate, was fined S$620,000 as well. The 57-year-old Singaporean has to serve 310 more days behind bars if he does not pay the fine by next month.

Seet was one of the key figures behind the syndicate which he started in 2011 with his two older brothers — Seet Seow Huat, 64, and Seet Sian Thiam, 72. They collected weekly revenue of at least S$1 million.

Using two main websites, the syndicate collected 4D and Toto lottery bets and earned more than S$100 million in revenue before they were nabbed.

Seet, who earned profits of at least S$19,000 a month, spent about S$150,000 of his ill-gotten earnings to pay off his mortgage on a three-room condominium unit in River Valley.

He had pleaded guilty late last year to seven charges that included being a leader of an organised crime group, providing remote gambling services and assisting in carrying on a public lottery. Another 54 similar charges were taken into consideration for sentencing.

He will begin serving his sentence on April 11 and remains out on bail of S$75,000.

The court previously heard that the Seet brothers had numerous sub-groups and clusters of agents and runners working for them. Before setting up the gambling ring, the brothers had been collecting illegal 4D bets on behalf of unknown persons.

They then decided to set up their own remote gambling website in mid-2011. Afterwards, they personally and actively recruited other agents and shareholders who would collect 4D bets from punters on their behalf.

The brothers encouraged the syndicate members to recruit others in order to increase revenue, as well as cushion losses by spreading the losses among the members.

They avoided detection by the authorities by personally interviewing prospective members and only accepting those who agreed to their terms.

Seet earned profits of at least S$14,000 a month from the bets collected via their first website from 2011 to when he was arrested in November 2016.

In 2013, Seet learned about a more efficient online betting system in Hong Kong. The group then launched its second Singapore-based remote gambling website, of which Seet was the administrator and owner.

He profited at least S$5,000 every month through this site from 2013 to his arrest.

On Nov 27, 2016, acting on information received, police officers went to Seet’s residence and forced their way in after he refused to allow entry. They seized multiple electronic devices used in the syndicate as well as four Rolex watches.

The police also found that he managed 11 bank accounts at various banks for the illegal gambling activities.

The prosecution — led by Deputy Public Prosecutors Dwayne Lum, Chong Yong and Lee Wei Liang — had described him as a leader behind “one of the most profitable and elusive illegal remote gambling syndicates”.

Seet was represented by Mr Josephus Tan and Mr Cory Wong from Invictus Law Corporation.

Aside from Seet, several people have been dealt with in relation to the syndicate. A total of 49 people were arrested during a series of raids conducted by the police in November 2016.