Police from the Ministry of Public Security have arrested seven members of an online gambling ring with total gambling amount reaching US$23.6 million as of August. The ring’s leader, Vuong Chan Thanh, 37, director of Vien Tin International Co Ltd in District 11, HCMC, was arrested on Friday morning, along with his wife, Dam Kim Khuyen, 34, Nguyen Thanh Trieu, 34, Vuong Thuy Hang (Trieu's wife), 35, and Do Tu Tuong, 35, police said.

These five defendants have been charged with organizing gambling.      The police also detained two others, Nguyen Xuan Lam, 29, and Le Quang Tan, 35, on charges of gambling. All these seven detainees are residents in the city. On searching Thanh’s home and office, police seized tens of thousands of US dollars, hundreds of millions of dong, many machines and equipment, and a lot of books of accounts related to gambling. The ring began to operate in 2010 through the website www.188bet.com, which serves gamblers in many countries including Vietnam, said Colonel Ho Sy Tien, head of the Social Crime Investigation Police Department under the Ministry of Public Security.

The website's server is placed in the Philippines and has operated since 2005, the Colonel said.  According to these books and other materials, the total amount of money dealt through the gambling ring as of August 2013 amounted to VND500 billion (US$23.6 million), the official said. Most gamblers of the ring had made money transfers in the form of Internet banking through such banks as Dong A, ACB, Vietcombank, Eximbank, Vietinbank, and Sacombank, the official said, adding that about 70 accounts have been used for such transfers. Of the VND500 billion, VND387 billion were transferred through Dong A, ACB and Vietcombank, Tien said. Police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the large-scale gambling ring.