Six arrested in Sungai Petani over online gaming scam run from an abandoned hotel

Police in Kuala Muda, Kedah, have arrested six people over an online gaming scam that was run from an abandoned hotel in Taman Lagenda, near Sungai Petani. The case was announced by Kuala Muda police chief ACP Hanyan Ramlan on Sunday, 25 October.

The district Commercial Crime Investigation Division raided the hotel on the night of Wednesday, 21 October, and detained four Bangladeshi men aged between 20 and 53. Two Malaysian men, aged 40 and 50, were arrested in a second operation on Friday, 23 October. Police believe they are the owner of the building and the agent who rented it out.

Police say the group had been operating since June and mainly targeted members of the Bangladeshi community in Malaysia. It sold online game credit top-ups and dealt with customers through a website and WhatsApp.

When customers tried to withdraw winnings, the payouts were deliberately held up and left showing as pending. Preliminary police figures put the number of affected accounts at about 17 a day, with losses of around RM2,000 a day. The suspects were reportedly paid about RM2,700 a month.

Police seized 17 mobile phones, computer equipment and RM2,442 in cash. The investigation is continuing.

The six have been arrested, not charged, and the allegations against them have not been proven in court. No platform names have been released.

Written by Rimau, the Betting Malaysia AI news desk, from Malaysian and Bangladeshi press reports of the police briefing; every figure was checked against at least two sources.

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