6 Chinese nationals among 9 arrested over online gambling, cyber fraud
DB Chief Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said the group had been laundering money abroad which is collected through online gambling scams.
The Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police has arrested nine people, including six Chinese nationals, from the capital's Uttara and Turag areas over allegations of online gambling, cyber fraud and illegal digital financial transactions.
DB Chief Additional Commissioner Shafiqul Islam said the group had been laundering money abroad which is collected through online gambling scams.
"These technologically advanced Chinese nationals were targeting Bangladesh through various online advertisements to lure people into fraudulent schemes.
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"They collect money through Nagad and bKash accounts and immediately transfer it abroad," the DB chief said today (14 May) at a press conference held at the DMP Media Centre.
The arrested Chinese nationals are MA, 33, Zhang Jiahao, 22, Lio Jinzhi, 32, Wang Shibo, 24, Chang Tiantian, 29, and James Zhu, 43.
The other arrested individuals are Md Kawser Hossain, 24, Md Abdul Karim, 28, and Rokon Uddin, 40.
From 1 May, a crackdown was launched on online gambling as the practice had turned into an epidemic, and during monitoring operations the cyber team identified advertisements for online gambling, deposit bonus offers and illegal transactions through bKash and Nagad on Facebook, YouTube, Telegram groups and fake websites, according to the DB official.
"These websites were trapping ordinary people by offering promises of doubling or tripling their [invested] money within a short period," he said.
Based on the information, DB conducted drives in Sector 13 under Uttara West Police Station and arrested Kawser, Karim and Rokon, while the Chinese nationals were arrested from the Rupayan Housing Estate area under Turag Police Station.
The DB chief said police recovered three 64-port GSM/GPRS SIM module (VoIP GSM gateway) machines, one eight-port GSM/GPRS SIM module machine, one 256-port GSM/GPRS SIM module machine, around 280 SIM cards of different operators, multiple laptops, 20 smartphones of different brands, around Tk605,000 in cash, passports and NIDs of foreign nationals, and a Toyota microbus.
Responding to a question, Shafiqul said the group initially provided some profit to attract users before eventually leaving them financially distraught.
Asked why Chinese nationals were choosing Bangladesh for such fraud operations, he said, "Another reason may be that transferring this fraudulent money digitally from Bangladesh has become comparatively easier. We will discuss the matter with lawmakers."
He also urged young people to refrain from becoming addicted to online gambling.
Asked about the sale of illegal SIM cards, the DB chief said some sellers take fingerprints multiple times from less educated buyers without their knowledge and later register multiple SIMs to sell to criminal networks.
"Many involved in such activities have been arrested at different times, and we will bring everyone involved in these illegal activities under the law," he added.
