Victor Chandler the Gibraltar-based online bookmaker and casino has announced that 15 employees at its Malaysian IT and customer services center were arrested last week following a police raid.

Euro 2008 front
The operation was part of a crackdown on illegal gambling in Malaysia in the wake of a rise in betting on the Euro 2008 soccer championships this month. Authorities claimed the Kuala Lumpur operation was an international football gambling syndicate using Victor Chandler's offices as a front collecting over 5 million dollars a month in bets from China and Europe.

Millions in bets
Forty computers and a laptop were seized in the operation. "We have identified two local women as directors of the company and we would be questioning them on the illegal activities," said a police spokesman. "We estimate that the syndicate has been receiving bets averaging $1 million from China and $4 million from several European countries monthly."

Company response
Senior executives of Victor Chandler will fly to Malaysia in a bid to discover why 15 of their staff were arrested and held for six days. The employees, since released on indefinite bail, have not been charged.

"We believe there's been a mixup," said Phil Hall, Victor Chandler's PR representative. "The Malaysian operation is a customer service center, an IT center, and has never been used for any sort of gambling or the taking of bets. It is therefore not in breach of any Malaysian gambling laws. We're confident that this mix-up will be resolved shortly."

Legality issues
Online gambling remains unlawful in the majority of regions worldwide. In spite of the fact that European countries and some South American ones have greeted online gambling warmly, the greater part of the South Pacific region restricts the online casinos, and sometimes even traditional gambling is banned.

For our readers and players, Online Casino Reports has devised a list of the countries and the legal status of online gambling.