Vietnam police bust major online gambling ring

The Vietnam publication Tuoitrenews reports that local police from the Ministry of Public Security raided the local premises of an offshore online gambling ring that generated over US$23.6 million, arresting seven people.

A police spokesman revealed Friday that the ring’s leader, Vuong Chan Thanh, 37, director of Vien Tin International Co Ltd in District 11, HCMC, was arrested on Friday morning, along with his wife, Dam Kim Khuyen, 34, Nguyen Thanh Trieu, 34, Vuong Thuy Hang (Trieu’s wife), 35, and Do Tu Tuong, 35.

These five defendants have been charged with organising gambling.

The police also detained two others, Nguyen Xuan Lam, 29, and Le Quang Tan, 35, on charges of gambling.

In residential searches associated with the gambling raid, police officials reportedly seized “…tens of thousands of US dollars, hundreds of millions of dong, many computers and other equipment, and a lot of books of accounts related to gambling.”

Police claimed that the ring began operating in 2010 through the website www.188bet.com, which investigators allege serves gamblers in many countries including Vietnam.

Colonel Ho Sy Tien, head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security, said that the website’s server is situated in the Philippines and has operated since 2005.

According to documentary evidence in police hands, the total amount of money dealt through the gambling ring as of August 2013 amounted to VND500 billion (US$23.6 million).

Police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the large-scale gambling ring.