POLICE have arrested eight people, including three women, involved in a controversial Hari Raya gambling commercial.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani said the eight suspects were actors, agents, a videographer and a producer/director.

“All the arrested admitted they received payments to produce the video, which was shot in two locations – Ampang and Hulu Langat – on March 13, 2021.

“All eight will be remanded for further investigation,” he said in a statement today.

He said the case was filed under section 504 of the penal code for intentional insult aimed at provoking a breach of the peace and section 4(1)(g) of the Common Gaming Houses Act 1953.

Acryl said efforts are ongoing to nab the mastermind behind the video.

Yesterday, Kuantan lawmaker Fuziah Salleh said local online betting platform GDBet333 was encouraging Muslims to to gamble in the month of Ramadan so that they would have money to celebrate Hari Raya.

She said this was contrary to the meaning of the celebration, which promotes the cleansing of sins.

The ad entices Muslims, especially the youth, to sin, she said.

GDBet333 calls itself “Malaysia’s top and trusted online casino”, and offers live dealer betting, slot games, online poker and 4D lotteries.

Its Raya commercial features a catchy song and shows a Muslim man looking for money to balik kampung for Hari Raya.

The lyrics says it is easy it is to get money, with a chorus that goes: “GDBet333 ada, apa nak tunggu, marilah cuba, untung nasibmu, engkau berjaya, cuci semua, kemudian beraya” (GDBet333 is here, what are you waiting for, try it, if you’re lucky, you’ll win, cash out and celebrate Raya).

Links to the ad are no longer accessible.

The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission said it had submitted a take down request to Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

The actors in the ad have said they were not aware they were promoting gambling.

Speaking to mStar yesterday, 24-year-old Saifullah Mood Yunus, the main character in the video, said he was disappointed when he found out the actual purpose of the video but decided to keep shooting because he wished to be professional.

“We are very professional, we will not ask for production to stop just so we can go home.

“Since we had already completed 70% of the shoot, we decided to continue.”

Another actor, who did not want to be identified, said he had not asked questions where he was offered a part in the commerical.

“The production company added us to a WhatsApp group called ‘Raya MV Shoot March 2021’. It’s normal practice for production companies to keep their products secret and they even told us not to tell anyone because it was a surprise,” said the actor.

Meanwhile, the talent who played the role of an assistant in the video said he and his friends only realised the advertisement was about gambling on March 13.

“Freelancers like us have been badly affected by Covid-19, we are desperate (for a job). We have no other way to get money.

“When we got this job, we didn’t ask too many questions. They weren’t paying us a lot of money either,” he said. – April 17, 2021.