Indonesian woman in Sarawak jailed five months for illegal online gambling
The Magistrates’ Court here today sentenced a 31-year-old Indonesian woman to five months in jail for running illegal online gambling. ― Reuters pic
Monday, 30 Jan 2023 5:52 PM MYT
KUCHING, Jan 30 — The Magistrates’ Court here today sentenced a 31-year-old Indonesian woman to five months in jail for running illegal online gambling.
Magistrate Siti Farah Ibrahim convicted Anju Lestari from Selakau, Indonesia on her own guilty plea and ordered for the sentence to take effect from the date of her arrest.
Anju was charged under Section 4B(a) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, which carries a fine of between RM10,000 and RM100,000 for each gambling machine seized, and imprisonment of not more than five years, upon conviction.
She committed the offence at a premises in Lorong Liu Shan Bang, Kota Sentosa here around 8.20pm on January 17, 2023.
Based on the facts of the case, Anju was arrested by the police during a raid on the premises for suspicion of illegal online gambling.
During the raid, mobile phones, eight joysticks, a WiFi modem, and RM240 were seized.
Subsequent analysis by an expert revealed that the items were gambling machines.
During the raid, Anju also failed to produce valid travel documents to enter the state.
A check with the Immigration Department found there was no information on Anju’s movements in or out of the country.
For that offence, she was charged under Section 6 (1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and punishable under Section 6(3) of the same Act, which carries a fine of not less than RM10,000, or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both upon conviction.
Anju pleaded guilty to this offence in the Sessions Court before Judge Afidah Abdul Rahman, who sentenced her to four months’ jail.
Afidah also ordered for her jail sentence to take effect from the date of her arrest.
The cases were prosecuted separately by Insp Nur Syafiqa Nyaie Ilin and DPP Mohamad Aiman Mutallib Mohamad Shariff respectively.
Anju was unrepresented by legal counsel. — Borneo Post
