Hyderabad: Several gamblers from the city who had gone to Thailand and were allegedly gambling at an illegal casino set up at a hotel in Chon Buri province were arrested by the police on Sunday. Among the arrested persons one person named Parveen, who is being probed by the Enforcement Directorate for money laundering.
According to a report in ‘Bangkok post’, a news portal, the raid occurred at about quarter past midnight at the Asia Pattaya Hotel in Soi Phra Tamnak 4 in tambon Nong Prue, Bang Lamung district. The raid was done after detectives found that a number of Indian nationals had booked rooms at the hotel from April 27 to May 1, and rented a meeting room called Sampao for gambling.
The report further mentioned that, “93 people – 83 Indians, six Thais and four Myanmar nationals were rounded up. Of the 93 arrested, 80 were Indian gamblers while others were game organisers and staff. The police seized four baccarat tables, three blackjack tables, 25 sets of cards, 209,215,000 chips, 160,000 Indian rupees, eight closed-circuit television cameras, 92 mobile phones, three notebook computers, one iPad and three card dealer machines. A logbook in which gambling credits were recorded, showing about 1,000 million rupee worth of credits in circulation, was also seized.”
Some of them claimed that they were told by the organisers of the trip that gambling is legal in Thailand.
The local media reported that more than 500 million Rupees, or about 200 million Baht, was gambled each day and the activities were ‘live streamed’ to India. “A Thai organizer of the gambling trip, “Sitranan”, reportedly admitted that she rented the hotel’s conference hall at a rate of 120,000 baht a day, as she insisted that the hotel has nothing to do with the gambling activities,” a report on ‘www.thaipbsworld.com’ stated.
Parveen, is a well known figure in the elite circles in the country and is known for organising casinos in different countries including Nepal, Thailand and Malaysia. The Enforcement Directorate registered a case against him and investigating for money laundering.
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