KUCHING: The Magistrate’s Court here sentenced an Indonesian man to four months in prison for operating a gambling machine early this month.
Tham Jie Fen, 25, from West Kalimantan, Indonesia, pleaded guilty before Magistrate Ling Hui Chuan to the charge under Section 4B(a) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953, which carries a fine up to RM100,000 for each gambling machine, and imprisonment for a term of up to five years, upon conviction.
He was charged with operating a gambling machine, namely a Realme smartphone, at a premises on Jalan Batu Kawa at around 3.15 pm on Jan 3.
According to the facts of the case, an ‘Op Dadu’ raid was carried out by Kota Sentosa police due to suspicions of online gambling in the premises.
As a result, Tham was arrested with his smartphone, RM50 cash and pieces of paper written with numbers, believed to be used for gambling activities.
The seized items were sent for analysis, where a gambling expert confirmed that the phone was used as an online gambling machine.
In addition, Tham was also sentenced to five months in prison and one lash of the cane by the Sessions Court for not possessing a valid travel document to enter Malaysia.
He was charged under Section 6(1)(c) of the Immigration Act 1959/63 (Amendment 2002), read together with Section 6(3) of the same Act.
Judge Iris Awen Jon ordered that Tham is to be handed over to the Sarawak Immigration Department after serving his time to be deported to his country of origin.
