Recently, a massive police raid in a major gambling in the Phuc Tho province in Vietnam resulted in the arrests of 92 people. As revealed by the People’s Procuracy in the province, the defendants in the case were taken to court yesterday.
As the Vietnam News Agency found, the 92 people arrested during the online gambling ring’s raid faced a number of charges, including allegations of gambling and organizing gambling, unlawfully trading invoices using the Internet to appropriate assets, money laundering, and power and position abuse while performing their duties. The defendants are facing charges with being involved in the illegal online gambling ring headed by the ex Chair of the BTV Online Telecommunications Co.’s former chairman, Phan Sao Nam, and Nguyen Van Duong, who previously occupied the position of the Members Council’s Chair at High-tech Security Development and Investment Co.
According to the allegations, Duong and his accomplices used high technology to commit the crimes in Vietnam’s northern province, as well as in some other locations and even overseas. Allegedly, the illegal activities were carried out with the support of Phan Van Vinh and Nguen Thanh Hoa, the former Director of the High-tech Crime Police Department of MoPS.
The police investigation found that the operators used a number of games such as Zon/Pen, Rikvip/Tip.club and 23Zdo, to operate the online gambling fraud for 28 months.
A Network of 5,193 Outlets Was Established
During the time of operation, the scheme attracted more than 42.95 million gambling accounts and generated earnings estimated to over VND9 trillion (a little over $384.4 million). According to the criminal charges, the group had established a network of 5,913 outlets which provided their users with the chance to turn the game scores they generate into real money, and the other way round.
At the time when the arraignments were announced, the prosecutors revealed a number of documents and pieces of evidence, according to which Vinh was aware of the online gambling scheme of CNC but did not take any measures to prevent that. In addition, it was revealed that Vinh and Hoa were charged with power and position abuse while performing their duties – a criminal offense for which they can go to jail for a period of 15 years.
The investigation findings point Vinh as the mastermind who directed the scheme and made Hoa create favorable conditions for the illegal activities to be carried out. He also directed Hoa to cover up for the illegal gambling activities of Duong and other accomplices. Apart from that, Vinh also faces allegations of concealing the case from his superiors.
Phan Sao Nam pleaded guilty to several charges, including gambling and organizing gambling activity, and money laundering, and is expected to get an imprisonment sentence for up to seven years. According to reports, he earned an amount of over $62.7 million through the illegal activities.
Duong, on the other hand, could face an impeachment and could be sent to prison for up to 13 years. Allegations point him as the organizer of the illegal gambling ring, with him also participating in the overall gambling activity and money-laundering schemes.
