The Vietnamese media has reported that authorities in Thanh Hoa province arrested 10 people in relation to illegal online football and casino betting. Since the beginning of 2017, the gang has generated wagers worth $62 million.
The authorities were unable to confirm if the gambling ring has any connection to international gambling sites who regularly offer their services to Vietnamese players. On the one hand, the country is trying to introduce its own legal betting system online, but on the other hand it is fighting against international gambling sites.
In the latest raid, four ringleaders were arrested and the police seized plenty of equipment including four computers, cell-phones and cash.
Under Vietnamese law, gambling is not a legal pastime in the country unless it takes place in government licensed gambling locations.
Anyone who is caught violating these laws could be sent to prison or forced to pay heavy fines. Only foreign passport holders are allowed to access licensed casinos at present, although new laws are set to change this restriction. The government intends to abolish this and other restrictions under new reforms.
In May this year, a local businesswoman was arrested in the southern An Giang province after she was suspected of organizing different forms of illegal online gambling and betting through a website. The 34 year old is vice director of Asian Livetech software service group, an affiliate to a Cambodian based firm.
