10 arrested as $89 million online gambling ring busted in Vietnam

Police under the Ministry of Public Security have busted an online gambling ring worth over VND2 trillion ($89 million) and captured at least 10 suspects in several cities and provinces on Sunday.

The Police Department for High-Tech Crime Prevention (C50), the Criminal Police Department (C45) and the HCMC Police Department cooperated in exposing the online gambling ring, led by suspect Nguyen Minh Dat since 2015.

At least 10 other suspects were also arrested in 14 locations scattered in HCMC, Hanoi and the southern province of Dong Nai.

Authorities found tens of thousands of dollars, several documents, cars and VND10 billion worth of savings books believed to be involved in the gambling operations.

The online gambling ring was hosted by the M88gin.com website, with its server located in the Philippines. Gambling forms included, among others, betting on soccer, online casino and lottery.

The gambling ring is being investigated further.

Last month, another online gambling ring^[1] through the web portal 12bet was busted, with four suspects arrested and a total of over VND300 million in cash, computers and phones seized by the police.

The busts came just four months after police announced the uncovering of another massive operation^[2] run by two major Vietnamese tech businessmen. 

Investigators found the gambling network started operating in April 2015, drawing around 14 million players and bets worth VND9.6 trillion ($419.7 million), and earning the two masterminds VND3.2 trillion ($140 million). 

Police arrested dozens of people, including Phan Van Vinh, former director of the General Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security and Nguyen Thanh Hoa, former director of the ministry’s cyber crime division, and seized over VND1 trillion ($43.8 million).