Illegal gaming shut down in Malaysia

Malaysia is strengthening police forces to set the biggest crackdown on illegal gaming operations.

Malaysia.- The government of Malaysia announced this week that the national crackdown against illegal gaming operations is receiving further economic and strategic support in order to shut down every unlicensed service. The plan was announced by Deputy Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim.

According to the official, the government is creating an “illegal gambling action committee to plan, analyse, synergise and execute the actions to be taken to completely wipe out illegal gambling once and for all.” The national crackdown will be mostly focused on iGaming sector, although it is a “complicated task” as “they mostly operate through servers located overseas and push their software through multiple collapsible local servers.”

The plan is part of a bigger framework against casino, lottery and sports betting operations, which has been announced in February. The government is considering the creation of a new national entity to specifically control and regulate the gaming industry. The measure was announced last month by the Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who also revealed the beginning of major crackdowns on reported platforms.

The casino industry has also been part of a national investigation of economic trades in the foreign-currency market. The Malaysian central bank will publish this week the details of operators who have been found guilty of financial irregularities.