Nghe An dismantles online lottery betting ring with over 2 billion VND

At the end of June 2020, Quynh Luu District Police discovered a network specializing in recording lottery numbers with a large number of participants, operating very sophisticatedly, with many links inside and outside the district.

In early July 2020, Quynh Luu District Police established a special project codenamed "720D", focusing forces on fighting against the activities of subjects in the gambling ring.

Subject Pham Ngoc The at the police station. Photo: Xuan Bac

The investigation agency has identified the four ringleaders as Pham Ngoc The (born in 1960); Nguyen Thi Anh Hong (born in 1970); Ho Thi Ly (born in 1967), all residing in Hamlet 13, Son Hai Commune, and Tran Thi Vien (born in 1986), residing in Block 10, Cau Giat Town. The four individuals established and operated a gambling ring in the form of betting on lottery numbers via Zalo, Facebook, Messenger messages, or directly through agents.

The agents "developed" by the 4 subjects above had 18 participants, whose task was to receive and record odd numbers from players, then transfer them to the subjects. The subjects used many tricks to deal with the police, such as Pham Ngoc The's house being shielded and protected by 2 iron fences, and a tight surveillance camera system. Every day, from early afternoon to 6:30 p.m., The locked his house door to receive lottery and lottery messages from the lower agents and also at 6:15 p.m. every day, he deleted all messages from players and turned off his phone until the next day.

Notably, The's family of 3 had all wives and children participating in the gambling ring run by The.

Lottery players summoned to police station. Photo: Duc Vu

In addition, the subjects also hired guards, carefully locked the doors of the house, regularly changed the method of communication and only received lottery numbers from agents, not accepting individual bets.

Expanding the investigation, the district police simultaneously arrested 16 more subjects.

The seized evidence included 604 million VND in cash, 36 betting boards, 39 mobile phones, 2 laptops and many other related evidences, initially proving that the amount of money the subjects gambled was more than 2 billion VND.

Lottery messages from agents sent to 4 ringleaders. Photo: Xuan Bac

During the investigation, it was determined that these subjects were all subordinate "agents" set up by The and his accomplices. These agents were given a percentage of the money that lottery players paid to bet. Specifically, for each lottery point, the agents paid the leaders 21,800 VND/lottery point (collected from the players was 23,000 VND/lottery point); the premise was enjoyed at a rate of 25% x the amount of money the players paid.