Vietnamese Police Busts Gambling Ring Led by Gay Magazine Owner

The owner of the Vietnamese version of the gay lifestyle magazine Attitude, To Cong Hung, was arrested as a leader of the illegal online gambling ring worth nearly €46.8 million.

To Cong Hung is well known as owner of the gay magazine which supports gay rights movements and raises awareness among people but Ho Chi Minh City police discovered his secret hobby and arrested him as a leader of the gambling ring that was running operations in Vietnam for the website 12bet based in Philippines.

Police said that To Cong Hung, arrested along with nine others who were involved in illegal operations transferred tens of millions of U.S. dollars from losers to the owners of 12bet.com. Hung’s sister, who was also involved in the gambling ring, created several bank accounts with other associates to receive the money from gamblers from all across the country; money was later transferred into a virtual currency and points on the 12bet website that could be used for different purposes, but with the main focus on sports betting.

Police that has been investigating and tracking the flow of the illegal funds said that To Cong Hung had been managing the ring for several months but with the websites that are based overseas. Gambling is prohibited and illegal in Vietnam but that certainly doesn’t stop Vietnamese to gamble even though the gambling laws are very strict.

If you decide to gamble in Vietnam despite the harsh laws and if you win or lose more than 50 million dongs (around $2,500) you could face three to seven years in prison. It is unknown whether gambling will be legalized in Vietnam any time soon, even though there has been discussion about reducing penalties and making effort to legalize some forms of gambling.

Police is still investigating the case and has arrested ten more individuals believing they are involved in illegal gambling operations. According to the calvinayre.com, in July last year the police started legal processes against nearly fourty individuals arrested in connection to illegal football World Cup betting. The ring was connected to Philippines based site M88.com, considered one of the predominant sites catering to Vietnamese punters. ThanhNieh News reported that three Korean police investigators were sent to Vietnam to help the raid and deported six Korean nationals believing they have been operating illegal gambling site.