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Pekanbaru locals accused of turning children's game center into gambling den
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A casino slot machine in Las Vegas. (Shutterstock/File)
T
he Pekanbaru Police have named six people suspects for allegedly running a gambling den at a Pekanbaru facility that only has a permit as a children’s game center.
Pekanbaru Police chief Sr. Comr. Tony Hermawan said City Game Center at Bawah Market had violated the terms of its business permit. “The gambling den has been posing as a game center. Players of the arcade games are supposed to exchange points with merchandise vouchers. But instead they exchange the vouchers with real money,” he said Monday.
The arcade game center received its permit in June. “We have sent a letter to the Pekanbaru administration to review the permit. We recommend that the permits of other game centers also be reviewed. If they are truly game centers, not gambling for real money, there is no problem,” Tony said.
On Saturday night, the police confiscated millions of rupiah in cash, thousands of coins, dozens of vouchers, a coin counter, game machines and office stationery. “Besides management personnel, we also arrested seven visitors,” Pekanbaru Police general crimes unit head Comr. Bimo Ariyanto said.
Information from witnesses revealed that players had to buy a coin for Rp 5,000 each. The coins would be used to amass points at Pac Man, fish game and crocodile arcade game machines. “Every 50,000 in points could be exchanged for five vouchers and each voucher could be exchanged for Rp 100,000,” Bimo went on. (evi)
