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12
BOILING POINT
I
n mid-July 2014, Thanh Hoa prov-
ince’s police captured 12 gamblers in
an online football betting ring, with
a total sum of VND5 trillion ($238
million) in bets. In all, the wider ring
involved dozens of groups of organ-
ised criminals from many localities. The
betting was conducted via a website
hosted by 48-year-old Duong Ba Lieu.
Earlier in July, the Thua Thien-Hue
police forced joined forces with the
Ministry of Public Security’s Department
for Combating High-tech Criminals and
uncovered a major football betting
ring holding a total of $37.7 million in
placed bets.
The group was led by 10 people
and joined by over 150 gamblers. The
ringleader was Vo Van Nhan, 31, from
Hue city. A bust at his house revealed
that Nhan had used computers, fax ma-
chines, iPads and mobile phones for his
illegal actions.
Also, on July 3, police arrested
members of another large-scale inter-
net-based betting ring which was using
an overseas server. The total value of
bets was estimated at over VND1 trillion
($47.62 million).
During the World Cup’s final round,
police from Hanoi and Hai Duong prov-
ince also put a stop to two big foot-
ball betting rings, each with hundreds
of thousands of dollars in bets placed
every day.
Hai Duong’s police recently arrested
another betting ring leader, 40-year-old
Dinh Van Tien, who used the website
www.bong88.com linked with 17 oth-
ers for betting activities. Each day, about
VND1 billion was bet via his network.
Police said those joining the bet-
ting were from all walks of like, from
gangsters to factory workers and even
doctors and engineers.
The Ministry of Public Security said
it would expand its investigation into
V-League matches after at least six
footballers from two clubs were de-
tained this year on gambling charges.
They were suspected of betting on
the match during which Dong Nai lost
5-3 to Quang Ninh Coal. Police said
the players won VND400 million (over
$19,000) in total from betting on the
point spread.
Major-general Ho Sy Tien, head of
the Ministry of Public Security’s Penal
Police, said that during the World Cup
2014 season, betting was found in
entertainment areas and cafés, and on
the internet.
Police from 53 out of 63 cities
and provinces nationwide launched
programmes to fight football betting.
Some 658 cases were caught during the
World Cup 2014, up 284 cases against
the World Cup in 2010. More than
VND14 billion was seized as well as
over $81,500, 10 cars, 285 motorbikes,
919 mobile phones and 214 comput-
ers. Hundreds of betting websites were
also blocked.
Unable to stem
the tide
Senior lieutenant-colonel Ngo
Minh An, vice head of Hanoi Police’s
Department for Combating High-tech
Criminals, said during previous World
Cups or leading European tourna-
ments, betting spots could be seen
everywhere. However, criminals were
using technology like the internet or
mobile phones, which were very hard
to trace.
Before and during the World Cup
2014, policemen cooperated with in-
ternet operators to curb 1,300 websites
and closely supervised all internet por-
tals with betting signals.
They also cooperated with the State
The 2014 World Cup saw the largest ever number of illegal football betting
rings busted in Vietnam.
Thanh Thu
reports on this growing problem and po-
tential steps to combat it via legalised sports betting.
Brought to book