Koreans Caught Invading Vietnam With Illegal Online Gambling Sites

Raids, fines and deportation answer to illegal online gambling in Vietnam.

Law enforcement officers came down hard on illegal Vietnamese mobile casino gambling rings recently. Following the bust of one such rig,10 people were taken into custody. This includes the operator himself, 33-year-old To Cong Hung, the owner of a gay magazine in Ho Chi Minh City.

The servers were based in the Philippines, but business was carried out in Vietnam. Total bets placed through the illegal gambling ring were estimated to be around $47 million, monthly. The business has been in operation for several months. Hung had no qualms about using his own sister, among other associates, to do his dirty work.

They would create bank accounts to which gamblers could deposit money from across the globe. The online 12bet firm would then convert the millions of U.S. dollars of illegal gambling money into virtual currency and points for online gambling under various forms, including sports betting.

Korean operator still on the run after illegal gambling ring dismantled in Vietnam

In a continued crackdown of online gambling sites in Vietnam, which is illegal, 6 thirty-something years old South Koreans nationals were arrested. They were thrown out of the country for operating an illegal online gambling site where 4,000 players were found to be registered.

The Koreans, arrested last week at a villa that was raided in the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung, apparently worked for another Korean, Choi Hojun, who deployed them to Vietnam to operate the illegal gambling ring which attracted mostly Korean players. Three Korean police investigators participated in the raid.

They accompanied the deportees back to Korea but revealed that their leader, Hojun was still at large. The Vietnamese Police in Ho Chi Minh City have already deported 14 South Koreans for breaching Vietnamese gambling laws, and were fined between $470-940 for operating online sports betting sites.