Organised crime figure jailed over 5 years, fined S$300,000 for role in multi-million-dollar online gambling ring

SINGAPORE — A key figure in an organised crime group was sentenced by a district court on Monday (Aug 2) to five years and five months in jail, along with a S$300,000 fine, for his involvement in a multi-million-dollar online gambling ring.

Earlier this year, 57-year-old Lim Beng Tiong had pleaded guilty to two charges under the Remote Gambling Act, and three others under the Organised Crime Act.

Seven other charges were taken into consideration for Lim, a permanent resident.

He was nabbed during a series of raids conducted by the police against the gambling syndicate in November 2016, which resulted in the arrest of 49 people, including the leaders and members of other organised crime groups.

Lim was described in court documents as a shareholder and leader of a remote gambling organised crime group.

TODAY previously reported that the vast illegal online gambling ring was said to have collected S$2 million in bets in the month preceding the arrests.

According to court documents, Lim was the shareholder and operator of a remote gambling 4D and TOTO website, and a shareholder of another gambling website.

Lim first got involved in illegal lottery in 2001 when he started to help his brother Lim Meng Seng to collect illegal 4D and TOTO bets.

Sometime between 2012 and 2013, Meng Seng suffered a stroke and his brother took over the collection of the illegal bets with the aid of remote gambling websites.

Over time, Lim had amassed a pool of about 111 agents and punters, who would place bets into a website he operated.

To illustrate the scale of the illegal gambling operation that Lim was running, court documents stated that the website was able to collect between S$3.76 million to S$4.32 million in illegal bets from January 2013 to November 2016.

Police seized S$1.2 million in cash from a Certis Cisco safe jointly operated by Lim and another brother, Lim Beng Yeow. Various bank accounts in Lim’s name also yielded more than S$2 million.

The status of the other 48 individuals who had been arrested with Lim was not stated in court documents.