The 'handshake' of the mastermind of the gambling ring with the former director of C50
Defendant Nguyen Van Duong confessed that he had not yet divided the profits as promised to Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, former director of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Police Department.
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Phan Sao Nam and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa before being arrested. |
To operate a transnational online gambling ring, the defendantNguyen Van Duong (Chairman of the Board of Directors of High-Tech Security Development Investment Company - CNC) andPhan Sao Nam (former Chairman of the Board of Directors, Director of VTC Online Media Joint Stock Company - VTC online) has built two electronic game portals:Rikvip and Tip.club.
As a person with a lot of experience in the field of developing online games, Phan Sao Nam signed a contract to provide software and copyright for electronic games.Rikvip, Tip.club forNguyen Van Duong.
These two game portals have been in operation since 2014. Duong and CNC company are in charge of operating and managing all revenue.from playing online games.The proceeds from this activity are divided according to the principle: Men 60%, Women 40%.
Youthreported that Duong and Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa (former director of the High-Tech Police Department, Ministry of Public Security) had an agreement that Mr. Hoa would be given 20% of the revenue from the game. However,Duong khai has not divided profits with Mr. Hoa.
On March 11, Mr. Hoa was prosecuted and arrested for organizing gambling. He was accused ofAs the head of the High-Tech Crime Prevention Department, he knew about Duong and Nam's illegal acts but did not stop them, and was even an accomplice.
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Interface of a game using virtual currency. |
Rikvip is a card game released on the Google Play (Android), App Store (iOS) or Microsoft Store (Windows Phone) app stores since 2015 and the website is at Rikvip.com. However, information about the domain name and publisher of this game is anonymous. In mid-2017, Rikvip "collapsed" and removed from app stores, a series of fake games "sprouted like mushrooms" with similar names, such as "Rik Vip TipClup", "Tip.Club", "Rikvipcom.vn"...
When accessing, players will create an account and can participate in card games such as Northern Tien Len, Southern Tien Len, Phom, Chan, Tai Xiu, Poker... just like playing cards in real life.
Initially, new players are often given a certain amount of virtual money to attract them. However, when the virtual money runs out, players who want to continue must top up by exchanging phone scratch cards, online game cards, SMS messages or through bank transfers...
What are the laws regarding online gambling?
Lawyer Truong Anh Tu (Chairman of Truong Anh Tu Law Firm) analyzed,Online gambling is considered the use of electronic game services of gambling organizations. This form is strictly prohibited byDecree 72/2013/ND-CP and many other legal documents.
In addition, Article 3 of Circular 24/2014 of the Ministry of Information and Communications prohibits “taking advantage of the provision and use of electronic game services to gamble, organize gambling, commit fraud, conduct illegal business or other illegal acts”.“Virtual items, virtual units, and reward points may only be used within the scope of electronic games and for the purposes reported by the business.”
Since April 2016, the Ministry of Information and Communications has no policy to grant licenses for card simulation games, card games, or games simulating casino games.
According to the lawyer, in reality, when participating in these gambling simulation games, players often have to deposit real money to participate, which means "playing virtually but losing real money".
"Virtual items, virtual units, and reward points are not assets and cannot be converted back into money, payment cards, vouchers, or other items with transaction value outside of electronic games. Thus, depositing real money to play these online gambling games is also a prohibited activity under Circular 24," lawyer Tu analyzed.
The online gambling ring with a scale of thousands of billions of dong investigated by Phu Tho Police has now prosecuted more than 70 people, including Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, Phan Sao Nam, Nguyen Van Duong...
Authorities collected over 1,000 billion VND, temporarily detained and seized 20 apartments and 13 cars of various types; froze bank accounts with over 380 billion VND and many savings books.
The amount of foreign currency used for gambling transferred abroad is estimated at more than 3.6 million USD.
