Two former Singapore Pools staffers are facing charges for allegedly hacking into their former employer’s servers in order to manipulate betting odds. On Wednesday, Ricky Widjaja and Tong Heng Huat were charged with thieving $185k from Singapore’s monopoly betting operator by hacking into the company’s Margin Maker 2 (MM2) program then manipulating odds for over/under wagers on a variety of football league matches, including the English Premier League. Widjaja has had bail set at $200k while Tong’s bail was set at $150k.
The New Paper reported that the unauthorized incursions into Singapore Pool’s servers occurred between August 2011 and January 2012 although how the company detected the dastardly duo’s chicanery this late after the incursions wasn’t disclosed. The two men reportedly took turns placing wagers ranging from $12k to $38k and collecting winnings of up to $44k at a time. Each man is facing 52 charges under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act, which carry a maximum of 10 years and fines of up to $50k if convicted on all counts.
In more positive Asian lottery news, Hong Kong-based China LotSynergy has scored a couple new deals on the Chinese mainland. China LotSynergy subsidiary Guangzhou San Huan Yong Xin Technology Co teamed with Beijing Bestinfo Cyber Technology on a successful joint bid to provide the Shanghai Welfare Lottery with betting terminals as well as a lottery sales and management system. The two firms already provide similar services and technology for the Guangdong Welfare Lottery.
China LotSynergy also announced that its Guangzhou Lottnal Terminal Co subsidiary has inked a terminal supply deal with the Zhejiang Sports Lottery Administration Center. It’s the second terminal procurement deal for the Guangzhou Lottnal firm in Zhejiang province, having inked a similar deal last December, as well as a deal with Guizhou province’s lottery bosses in June.
Elsewhere, Huiyin House Appliance Holdings subsidiary Jiangsu Huiyin Lottery Network Technology Co has inked a deal with Anhui Provincial Welfare Lottery Issuing Centre. The deal calls for Jiangsu Huiyin to manage 686 points of sale in Anhui province.
