A Singapore-based lawyer has been detained under Malaysia's emergency ordinance for alleged involvement with syndicates fixing horse races, a report said today.
The New Straits Times said the home ministry has issued an order for the unidentified lawyer to be held for two years at a detention centre in the southern state of Johor.
The move was believed to be the first against a "high-ranking" member of bookmaking syndicates in Malaysia's multi-million-dollar gaming industry, it said.
The daily said the lawyer, who is a horse owner, was picked up at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur on April 24th and taken to the northern state of Penang to assist in an inquiry into an armed raid at a turf club.
Penang chief police Arthur Edmonds was quoted as saying that investigations have since been referred to federal police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.
Police there declined to comment today.
The News Straits Times said that on April 22nd, more than 50 armed men - believed to have been engaged by a syndicate attempting to fix races - raided two stables at a Penang turf club and threatened stablehands.
The raid was a warning to owners and trainers to withdraw their entries for the April weekend races on the island, the newspaper said.
It added that the lawyer was suspended for three years from legal practice in 1995 for what the Singapore Law Society described as "reprehensible conduct." - AFP
