Massive Vietnam online gambling bust claims another police head

The VND9.6 trillion ($419.7 million) break up of a massive Vietnamese online gambling ring earlier this year (see previous reports) has claimed another police head following the arrest Friday of former chief of the General Department of Police, Lieutenant General Phan Van Vinh (62) on suspicion of involvement.

Our readers will recall that last month saw the arrest of former head of the high-tech crime police department, Nguyen Thanh Hoa, also on suspicion of involvement in the gambling ring.

Lieutenant General Vinh stands initially accused of “abusing power in performance of official duties”, the Ministry of Public Security revealed in a press statement, adding that he would be held for four months pending investigation. He retired from the police last year.

Police in the Phu Tho province uncovered the gambling ring while investigating a fraud case regarding mobile top-up cards last May. The scammer told police that he had redeemed all the cards for virtual currencies used in an online gambling card game.

While investigating this claim, police uncovered a large online gambling ring run by two tech businessmen using online games portals that resembled professional casinos. Investigators found the portals started operating in April 2015, drawing around 14 million players and bets worth VND9.6 trillion ($419.7 million), and earning the two masterminds VND3.2 trillion ($140 million).

Both businessmen have been arrested, and including the police officials, 37 individuals have so far been arrested and 84 persons face various criminal charges.

Lieutenant General Vinh headed up Vietnam’s top police unit between December 2014 and April last year, and was in charge during major arrests of mass murderers and corrupt banking tycoons.

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