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Vietnamese police neutralized the illegal gambling ring!

17.06.2020 14:05

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On Thursday, police in Hanoi discovered and neutralized an illegal gambling ring, which according to preliminary estimates, processed more than $ 2.7 billion in two years. Police detained 16 suspects; they turned out to be all Vietnamese citizens who allegedly participated in the illegal operation, including the head of the entire scheme named Cheong Ngok Tu.

Cheong Ngok Tu and his associates targeted customers from all over Vietnam. Players who fell for their trick contributed cash through a network of agencies in order to receive virtual currency / points, after which they participated in games from mobile devices, on the website or through the application.

The illegal site was launched in 2018 and offered several types of gambling. According to reports from local newspapers, the scheme was extremely huge; its total cost was estimated at more than $ 2.6 billion. Some news agencies even said that it was the largest illegal gambling operation of its kind discovered by the Vietnamese police.

In Vietnam, most forms of gambling are prohibited. Terrestrial casinos are located in the country, but until recently, only foreigners could play them. Recently there was launched a pilot program by the Vietnamese government, residents also had the opportunity to bet at some casinos. In addition, lawmakers also allowed sports betting, but with certain restrictions.

A series of raids.

The illegal gambling operation was uncovered by a special task force consisting of members of the Hanoi police criminal unit and employees of the high-tech department of the Ministry of Public Security Anti-Crime.

The special unit conducted a series of raids on Hanoi. As mentioned above, 16 people were arrested during these raids. In addition, police confiscated dozens of mobile phones, SIM cards and ATM cards.

According to the Hanoi police official newspaper, millions of accounts were created on an illegal gambling site, and transactions worth up to $ 110 million were processed each month.

Cheong Ngok Tu and his accomplices instructed players how to deposit and withdraw money, charging a commission of 2%. To evade power, the creator of the illegal scheme deployed site servers outside of Vietnam. All of those arrested were close friends and relatives of Tu, as well as experts in the information technology field.

Despite the fact that online gambling is forbidden in Vietnam, they remain a profitable sector.