Terence Cao under investigation for acting in promo video for illegal gambling website

Did Terence Cao unknowingly become a champion for the wrong cause?

According to news reports, the showbiz veteran acted in three promotional videos for an illegal gambling website. But he claimed he was none the wiser.

When queried about his involvement in the videos on Wednesday (Jan 11), the 55-year-old told Lianhe Zaobao over the phone that a production company he had never worked with before approached him for these videos. He also didn't clarify what the client's website was for at that time.

Terence told the reporters to watch the videos, adding: "It's to tell people not to gamble!" He then hung up the phone.

Zaobao reporters attempted to contact him again afterwards and sent him a text message stating: "The video doesn't tell people not to gamble, but instead tells them that betting in small amounts is entertaining."

Terence did not respond to the message and subsequent phone calls.

In one of the clips viewed by Zaobao that lasted about 100 seconds, Terence plays two different weed control workers.

One of them admits to losing $500 by betting, while the other shares advice with the former — but then pulls out his phone to reveal that he earned $50 from betting.

At the end of the video, the name of the gambling website is shown, suggesting the second man had betted on that website.

The Gambling Control Act (2022) prohibits all gambling activities in Singapore unless licensed, class-licensed, or exempted.

Singapore Pools is the only operator licensed to provide lotteries and sports betting services in Singapore.

The Act also states that a person commits an offence if they advertise any unlawful gambling, and if found guilty, is liable to a fine not exceeding $20,000.

Responding to queries by AsiaOne, the police stated that investigations are currently ongoing.

In a separate dialogue with Zaobao, the Gambling Regulatory Authority confirmed that they are investigating the incident.

The Chinese daily also reported that the illegal gambling website has since removed their videos of Terence.

ALSO READ: 'Innocent actors' were affected, Benjamin Tan admits after he called out co-star for unprofessionalism

khooyihang@asiaone.com

For more original AsiaOne articles, visit here.