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KUALA LUMPUR: Illegal online gambling syndicates are receiving protection from certain politicians, which makes it difficult to eradicate the issue, says Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

“I can confirm that there are elements of political protection for online gambling (syndicates), said the Home Minister, adding that this was the biggest challenge faced by the Home Ministry, police and government.

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“How can politicians watch over such criminal activities for the sake of money when it has caused social and economic destruction? ” he said.

Saifuddin said political will is needed to address the issue and to amend the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953 as well as the Betting Act 1953 to cover offenses related to online gaming.

“The Act from 1953 has never been amended and who should amend this? Parliament and the politicians. There were efforts in 2019, but it was slow,” said Saifuddin.

“I will discuss with Tambun (Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) because the Act is under the Finance Ministry,” he said in Parliament during Question Time on Thursday (June 15).

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Saifuddin was replying to a question from Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan (PH-Sungai Buloh) on measures taken by the Home Ministry to address online gambling, its negative impact on the community and whether the ministry had a database of those involved.

Saifuddin said amending the 70-year-old law to cover illegal online gambling would allow proper enforcement against culprits.

“In 1953, gambling or betting involved things like cockfighting. Now when the police want to take action they lose the case. There are many loopholes and the highest penalty under the Act is only RM50,000,” said Saifuddin.

He added that the sentence is incompatible with the multi-billion ringgit industry.

Saifuddin said the authorities had blocked 2,119 websites from 2021 until May 2023, but mirror sites keep popping up to replace them.

He also said authorities have an integrated police reporting system, which is a database used to monitor cybercrimes and includes data such as the types of online games and platforms used.