Another major online gambling ring bust in Vietnam
News on 10 Jul 2014
News on 10 Jul 2014
The Vietnamese police have reported yet another major online gambling ring dismantled, along with the arrest of 11 people, one of whom – Duong Ba Lieu (48) – is alleged to be the ring leader.
Tuoitrenews.vn reports that over $235 million in wagers was handled by the ring, which was based in Bim Son in the Thanh Hoa province but used foreign based websites.
Police investigators on the case were assisted by a high-tech crime team from the Ministry of Public Safety and Security, said Colonel Nguyen Huu Du, head of the province’s police department.
Police raiding Duong Ba Lieu’s home seized computer equipment, a large amount of cash, dangerous weapons and other evidence.
Colonel Nguyen Huu Du said that all those arrested were professional gamblers who used two websites bought by Lieu from a woman whom police are still seeking.
Documentary evidence found by the police indicates that the ring attracted a large number of gamblers not only in Thanh Hoa but also in Nam Dinh and Ninh Binh provinces – both in the north – and other provinces.
The ring began to operate earlier this year, investigators said, revealing that over $235 million was wagered through the organisation. Police investigations are continuing in an effort to track down other persons involved in the illegal activity.
Vietnam police have been extremely active against online gambling in the past two months, motivated by the betting appeal of the football World Cup in Brazil.
Just a week ago a ring in Thua Thien-Hue province which handled $37.7 million in wagers on football was broken up with six arrests, and a further football betting ring that facilitated wagers of $65.8 million was shuttered in June, also with the arrest of six people.
The latest figures from the police nationally show that over a thousand individuals have been arrested for illegal gambling activities (see previous reports).
In related news, the Singapore police have reported the dismantling of another online football betting organisation, the arrest of 15 individuals and the confiscation of computers and cash to the value of 880,000 Singapore dollars.
Police spokesmen said that the early morning raid Thursday targeted the areas of Tampines, Bukit Batok, Aljunied and Bedok.
“This is the fourth in a series of operations which the police had conducted as part of our continuous efforts to clamp down hard and fast on illegal online soccer betting,” said Superintendent Lawrence Eng, also the head of the Specialised Criminal Branch of CID.
“From these operations, police have arrested a total of 56 suspects and seized cash of about S$2.8 million. Bookmakers who assume that they can hide behind the anonymity of the Internet to commit criminal offences would face the full extent of the law upon their arrest.”
