A $92 million Vietnamese online gambling ring busted in 2013 was back in the headlines this week when a court in Ho Chi Minh City sentenced 52 people to imprisonment and gave seven others suspended sentences.
All were accused of taking part in illegal online gambling activity through the Philippines-based M88, which prosecutors characterised as one of the world’s biggest online casinos.
The publication Thanh Nien News reports that six of the accused, who were the site’s agents in Vietnam, were sentenced to two to seven years in prison for “organising gambling”.
The rest were found guilty of “gambling”, with 46 awarded prison terms ranging from one and a half to four years.
However, the man believed to be the ringleader remains at large – Nguyen Vo Hoai Tram, along with several suspected associates, is still being hunted by police investigators.