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59 Arrested in Vietnam Crackdown on Illegal Crypto Gambling Group

R Richard M. DECEMBER 6, 2021 1 minute read

Law enforcement bodies arrested 59 Vietnamese in illicit gambling schemes and were suspected of $3.8 billion crypto theft.

Vietnam’s law enforcement authorities have arrested 59 people, suspected to be involved in an illegal gambling ring in Ho Chi Minh City, that stole $3.8 billion in bogus bets. According to Vietnam’s investigation bodies, comprising of Vietnam’s Cybersecurity, High-Tech Crime Prevention and Control Department, the Criminal Police Department, and the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department, four Vietnam’s citizen named Huỳnh Long Bạch, Huỳnh Long Nhu, Phạm Thị Mai Ngân, and Nguyễn Đắc Quý were masterminds in this robbery.

The legit gambling was tricked into signing up for the cryptocurrency wallets on international platforms like Remitano to deposit ETH, USDT, or TRON in the wallets. Afterward, gamblers using the wallets place bets on Nagaclubs.com and Swiftonline.live. These were the connecting sites to the actual platform Evolution Gaming, a subsidiary of Evolution AB in Sweden. The alleged suspects admitted that they got commission from the platform for onboarding Vietnamese gamblers. In this regard, Evolution has denied that their digital tables could be used in countries where gambling is illegal.

According to the police investigation, fraudsters crashed the websites during the time of increased activities to loot gamblers’ digital wallets. Gamblers were enticed into the bogus schemes as criminals portrayed themselves as legit entities over social media platforms. Additionally, criminals offered insurance and promising refund that attracted mass audience.

However, law enforcement authorities have been doing efforts to counter illegitimate gambling activities in Vietnam. The government has legalized betting in six brick-and-mortar casino for locals and foreigner but online gambling and private table remains illegal.

This case is an eye-opener for the regulatory bodies. Money laundering using cryptocurrency is a rising concern in Vietnam. Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance are crucial when trying to trace down the flow of illicit money transactions.

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