‘Three Betwinner agents smuggle Tk 40m out of Bangladesh in four months’

Police have arrested three agents of Betwinner, an online betting website, on charges related to gambling, which is banned in Bangladesh.

The law enforcers said the three suspects smuggled up to Tk 40 million out of Bangladesh in the past four months.

Police’s Criminal Investigation Department made the arrests in Cumilla’s Chauddagram on Wednesday night. The suspects are Abu Bakr Siddique, 30, Abdullah Al Awal, 26 and Md Toraf Hossain, 37.

Rezaul Masud, a special superintendent of police at CID, said at a press conference in Dhaka on Thursday that CID’s Cyber Intelligence and Risk Management Branch found the suspect’s involvement in betting operations.

Cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has recently been criticised for signing an advertisement deal with Betwinner’s news portal. After the Bangladesh Cricket Board had threatened to end his career, Shakib said he had cancelled the deal.

CID’s Rezaul said the three suspects smuggled up to Tk 40 million out of Bangladesh in the past four months. Citing them, he said Betwinner has 10 agents in Bangladesh. The agents receive commission from Betwinner.

Although most betting and gambling sites are blocked in Bangladesh, the users registered on and logged in to Betwinner through VPN software, Rezaul said.

The users paid for betting through mobile financial services. The agents then convert the money to cryptocurrency Binance.

Police seized six mobile phones, 12 SIM cards and a laptop during the arrests. A case was filed against the suspects at Paltan Police Station under the Digital Security Act.