Police in the Southeast Asian nation busted recently what could be the biggest illegal gambling ring operating on the territory of the country
Police in Vietnam busted last week what has been dubbed the largest illegal online gambling ring in the nation. Massive raids were carried out in a number of cities and provinces and 22 people were arrested so far for their involvement in the illicit operation.
Aside from few exceptions, most forms of gambling are prohibited in the Southeast Asian country. However, Vietnam’s booming illegal gambling market has prompted series of special police operations across the nation.
The recently conducted raids broke up an illegal online sports betting ring that had handled nearly $1.3 billion in illicit bets. Police arrested 22 people in connection with the illegal operation; 12 of the individuals were believed to be organizers of the activities.
Local news outlet Thanh Nien reported over the weekend that the discovery of hundreds of thousands of accounts tied to the ring had prompted massive police raids around Vietnam. Police sources revealed that the illicit activities were conducted in a very “sophisticated manner.”
The recently busted ring was behind the Fxx88.com website. Visitors of the website were lured into depositing funds in exchange for virtual money. Gambling activity mostly involved betting on football as the sport is particularly popular with Vietnamese gamblers.
To avoid police radars, those involved conducted transactions via bank accounts with relatively insignificant amounts of money.
Largest Illegal Gambling Ring Ever
With more than $1.28 billion processed in illicit bets, the operation was the largest ever busted by Vietnam’s police. While local authorities have remained tight-lipped on the particularities of the betting ring, its existence and scope further showed that illegal online gambling is a flourishing activity in the Southeast Asian nation.
Last year, Vietnamese police nabbed more than 90 people – including high-ranking officials – in relation to another massive illegal betting ring that processed $420 million in bets. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, the former Director of the Department for High-Tech Crime Prevention at Vietnam’s Information Ministry was among those arrested during multiple raids conducted by police in relation to the illegal operation. He was found to have been part of the massive ring and was even identified as one of the masterminds behind it.
The former Director of Vietnam’s General Police Department, Phan Van Vink, was, too, among those detained and later on charged with taking part in an illegal online betting operation and being among those pulling the strings.
The other arrested individuals were indicted charged with similar crimes as well as money laundering, misappropriation of assets, and illegal trading.
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