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Vietnam authorities bust $1B online gambling ring

Vietnamese police cracked down on an illegal online gambling ring that operated in the country till now with more than $1 billion in bets. The crackdown amounted to the arrests of 22 persons, as per local reports.

Though Vietnam has banned most forms of gambling for locals in the country, black market betting is widespread, and more so sports betting. The raids happened across Vietnamese cities and provinces, following the police discovering numerous accounts tied to one entity or ring that has an estimate $1.28 billion in funds.

The report on Thanh Nien, the state-run newspaper, said that the gambling ring was operating in a ‘sophisticated manner that had been difficult to detect.’ The report in the newspaper also sited some insider police sources.

Fxx88.com website is at the centre of this illegal operation. Gamblers who visited this site were asked to deposit cash into banks in exchange for fake money which could then be used for football betting. The arrests also include 12 organisers of this operation.

Vietnam has a one-party political structure, like China’s, and the state has started relaxing its rules on domestic gambling and now allows local citizens to bet in casinos. However, this is being done on a trial basis. The have also opened to sports betting.

The arrested individuals in this racket bust included former head of the ‘high-technology department’ who was himself in-charge of online gambling at the Ministry of Public Security in Vietnam.

Another official, former chief inspector at Ministry of Information and Communication, was also arrested in Hanoi on Thursday for failing to act on the information of the $420 million ring. Vietnam is currently governed by the communist party, headed by Nguyen Phu Trong. Trong has carriedout an unprecedented anti-corruption campaign pan-Vietnam and in his pursuit, he has arrest former and current officials of the state too.

Keep reading GutshotMagazine.com for more such gambling industry news from around the world.

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