$5,000 fine for operating lottery

THE Magistrate Court slapped a $5,000 fine on a 50-year-old man yesterday after he was found guilty of running an illegal lottery.

Swee Teck Kwang was convicted of assisting his sister-in-law, Lim Hon Khiong, run a four-digit lottery at Kg Bukit Udal, Tutong in June 2008.

Lim recently plead guilty to a similar charge.

During his trial, the defendant denied he was an agent for the lottery but he never disputed having four-digit numbers on his mobile phone.

However, in his statement to the police, Swee voluntarily admitted he was an agent for the lottery operation, using his mobile phone to receive numbers from friends.

In court, he later refuted this statement claiming that he was "confused" at the time it was taken despite conceding that police did not pressure or use force on him. He also denied that cash found on his person at the time of his arrest was for gambling-related activities.

Senior Magistrate Pg Masni Pg Hj Bahar said she was satisfied that the prosecution had proven its case and gave the defendant until March 8 to pay his fine.

The court ordered the mobile phone and cash to be forfeited to the state.

After the judgement was handed down, the prosecution announced they would like to appeal the sentence at a later date. The Brunei Times