An official announcement regarding the biggest online gambling ring has been made by the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security (MoPS), with a crackdown on online gambling and illegal money laundering in a number of cities and provinces across the country. The statement was launched after some inaccurate reports on the case emerged in domestic media, but the Ministry did not reveal which parts of which reports were not precise.
According to the Ministry, a number of organizations and individuals had taken advantage of the Internet to offer illegal gambling activities online, card games and betting included. In order for players to get access to the games, they were required to create accounts and make money transactions to buy virtual scores, called RIK. Money was sent through bank accounts, game cards (such as Vcoin, Gate, Megacard, Zing, etc.), direct purchases of virtual scores at Rikvip agencies, as well as pre-paid telecom cards (such as Vinaphone, Viettel, Mobifone, etc.)
In order to help players easily transfer money to their accounts, gambling services providers used legal entities that were connected with payment gateways. In addition, the services of the National Payment Corporation of Vietnam (NAPAS) were also used.
Legal Proceedings Faced by 83 Persons
An investigation which was carried out by the Ministry also found that more than 42,956,000 accounts on the Rikvip/Tip.club system existed in the period from April 18th, 2015 to August 29th, 2017. Also, each player averagely had three accounts, which means that the total number of players amounted to over 14 million.
In addition, about a week ago, the Ministry of Public Security made a statement, announcing that a senior police officials was put under arrest on suspicion on him being involved with illegal online gambling and money laundering. Legal procedures against some suspects involved in the agencies from the Ministry’s investigation in the Phu Tho province. The Investigation Security Agency, which operates under the Department of Public Security of Phu Tho province, rolled out legal procedures against a number of organizations and individuals involved in the illegal gambling rings on August 29th, 2017.
On March 11th 2018, legal proceedings were launched against the former director of the Ministry’s police department for high-tech crimes Nguyen Thanh Hoa by the Investigation Security Agency with the permission of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat. Hoa was taken into custody on the allegations of organizing illegal gambling activities.
As revealed by the Vietnamese MoPS, two individuals – the 39-year-old Phan Sao Nam and the 43-year-old Nguyen Van Duong – faced allegations for being the masterminds behind the illegal gambling scheme. A fourth person, the 40-year-old Hoang Thanh Trung was also taken into custody for being deeply involved with the gambling ring.
Furthermore, according to the Ministry’s statement, the Investigation Agency rolled out legal proceedings against 83 persons as of March 14th 2018. A total of 41 of them were alleged in organizing gambling in the region. Another 38 faced charges of gambling. In addition, four of them are facing allegations for illegally trading invoices, while two were prosecuted for money laundering. One person was charged of using the Internet to use assets without their owner’s knowledge and permission. For the time being, 31 persons are detained by Police, while 42 are banned from leaving their homes. Two individuals were released on bail, while the police were hunting for eight more people.
