Thirteen Arrested for Illegal Online Gambling

By Saing Soenthrith
The Cambodia Daily, November 19, 2013

Nine South Koreans and four Cambodian nationals allegedly participating in an illegal gambling operation in Siem Reap City were sent to the provincial court for questioning Monday, police officials said.

The suspects were arrested Saturday night along with 21 Cambodian women when police raided an illegal casino that was set up on the third floor of Angkor Valley Hotel in Svay Dangkum commune, according to Lieutenant Colonel Phoeng Chendarith, provincial minor crimes police chief.

He added that the women were released shortly after being detained, as they had only worked at the casino for a short time.

“The 21 Cambodian women worked as card dealers for the illegal casino inside Angkor Valley Hotel,” Lt. Col. Chendarith said, adding that the four Cambodian nationals worked as security guards for the operation while the nine South Koreans were all staff members.

Set up on the third floor were 21 green felt casino tables where the women would deal cards; players overseas, using a video link-up, were able to see the cards and interact with other gamblers in different countries, said Tith Narong, city police chief.

“They would play online to South Korea and to Malaysia, and if the players opened an account with the casino owners here, they could play games everywhere across the world,” Mr. Narong said.

However, the police were not able to access the online operation as a password is required, said Lt. Col. Chendarith.

“Our police are poor at IT, and they would not tell us their password so the police cannot find the company source of the casino,” he said.