KUALA LUMPUR: Without the burden of paying taxes and duties, gaming syndicates are able to pay attractive commissions to their runners.

The payments entice housewives and struggling traders to sign up.

Federal CID director Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin said in many cases where police made arrests, those picked up were only runners or workers operating the counting centres.

In August, a couple had been raking in RM1.2 million (S$494,000) every month from their illegal four-digit gaming activities until they were caught.

It was reported that the couple reinvested their profits from the illegal gaming business into moneylending, which brought in another five- to 10-fold returns due to their exorbitant interest rates.

As with most illegal gaming centre raids, police seized mobile phones, printers, facsimile machines and record books. The couple conducted their illicit activities at their rented house in Desa Park City, Kepong.

High demand for illegal gaming has attracted housewives to join up as they can receive up to RM5,000 a month just by collecting and placing bets from punters.

In May, the New Straits Times carried a story of how a widow supplemented her monthly income by being an illegal lottery bookie. She was running a small sundry shop in Seberang Jaya and business was slow.

In order to pay the rent, put her three children through school and maintain a brand-new car, she decided to become a bookie after being introduced by her friends.

She earned up to RM5,000 a month working as a bookie and it was "tax free". The bookie income was so lucrative and her sundry shop became her supplementary income.