Police in Quang Ninh Province, northern Vietnam broke up an online gambling ring worth more than VND10 trillion (US$437 million), operating under the guise of a water supply company.
The provincial Department of Public Security confirmed on Tuesday that it had coordinated with the Ministry of Public Security to inspect 11 locations in Dong Trieu Town, Quang Yen Town, and Ba Che District in Quang Ninh Province as well as Soc Son and Me Linh Districts in Hanoi.
Officers arrested and initiated legal proceedings against 19 suspects, of whom 14 reside in Quang Ninh and the others in Hanoi.
They also confiscated 10 automobiles, documents related to gambling activities, two pistols, and 27 bullets.
Preliminary investigation showed that the gambling racket was led by Nguyen Van Tu, 45, and Vu Ngoc Thanh, 46, both from Hanoi.
The racket ran several gambling websites with overseas servers to avoid being detected.
The total transactions since early 2021 have added up to more than VND10 trillion ($437 million).
The suspects even established Ngoc Anh Clean Water Company to secretly operate their gambling ring, and to run illegal pawn and loan services.
Further investigation is ongoing.
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