CID arrests 4 online gambling agents over alleged money laundering
The arrestees - Ariful Islam, Anwar Hossain, Harun-or-Rashid, and Imran Hossain-- are the agents of the gambling platform, police said
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the police arrested four people associated with "Bet Winner", an online gambling site, on allegations of laundering crores of Taka through their illicit operations.
The arrestees - Ariful Islam, Anwar Hossain, Harun-or-Rashid, and Imran Hossain-- are the agents of the gambling platform, police said.
The CID's Cyber Police Centre carried out coordinated operations across different areas of the capital, leading to the arrest of the four from Tejgaon, Bangsal, Lalbagh, and Mirpur on Monday night.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
"Cyber Police Centre of the CID arrested the four people from Tejgaon, Bangsal, Lalbagh, and Mirpur areas on Monday night," Azad Rahman, additional superintendent of CID, said on Wednesday.
He said the "Bet Winner" website is primarily operating under the aliases of "Super Admin" or "Master Admin" from Russia. These administrators employ managers to oversee global operations, recruiting experts as gambling agents. These agents create an intermediary layer to facilitate monetary transactions, often involving dishonest mobile financial service (MFS) agents.
CID's investigation reveals that Samrat and Shaheen Reza are pivotal figures in managing the site's Bangladeshi operations. Under their guidance, gambling agents exploit MFS channels to collect funds from gamblers across the country. These funds are then converted into cryptocurrency and moved abroad.
The agents associated with 'Bet Winner' are also implicated in financial dealings with another gambling site called 'BetVisa,' processing transactions worth crores of Taka each month. In return, they receive a commission from the collected funds.
The gambling site garnered attention when Bangladeshi cricketer Shakib Al Hasan disassociated from, "Betwinner News", a sister concern of the betting site, following the pressure from the Bangladesh Cricket Board.
During the arrests, the CID seized 13 mobile phones, 18 SIM cards, Tk7.67 lakh in e-balance, and Tk1.42 lakh in cash. A case has been registered under the Digital Security Act at Paltan Police Station regarding this illegal gambling and money laundering scheme.
