Twelve people were arrested when police raided a luxury home that they said was home to two gambling websites with 100 million baht in monthly turnover, in Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai on Saturday.
Twelve people were arrested when police raided a luxury home that they said was home to two gambling websites with 100 million baht in monthly turnover, in Mae Rim district of Chiang Mai on Saturday.
Police were acting on a tip that a gambling operator had rented the pool villa at the Summit Green Valley housing estate in tambon Mae Sa to serve as a headquarters for the business, said Pol Maj Gen Athip Pongsiwapai, commander of the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).
Police, armed with a search warrant issued by the Chiang Mai provincial court, found the interior of the home had been modified into a two-room office space. In the first room, they found six people replying to messages sent by customers who placed bets on the website hengclub.win. In the second room, six more administrators were doing the same with customers of kapaotang.com, he said.
Police question people they found working on gambling websites during a raid on a luxury house in Chiang Mai on Saturday morning. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)
All 12 men and women were arrested. Seized from the house were 12 computers, 33 monitors, 5 laptop computers, 53 mobile phones, 28 bank account passbooks, 28 ATM cards and a closed-circuit TV server.
During questioning, the suspects told police that they merely worked as administrators of the two websites.
The arresting team initially charged them of colluding in running online gambling without permission before handing them over to the Mae Rim police station for legal proceedings.
According to the police investigation, the two websites had about 100 million baht in monthly turnover. Authorities say they are extending the investigation to bring the mastermind and others involved to justice.
Computers, monitors, mobile phones, bank passbooks and other items seized during the raid. (Photo supplied/Wassayos Ngamkham)