The woman leading the billion-dollar lottery ring in Thai Hoa

On November 19, 2021, Thai Hoa Town Police said that under the direct direction of the Provincial Police leaders, Thai Hoa Town Police and the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police, in coordination with relevant units, successfully broke up the largest-scale gambling case ever in Thai Hoa town in the form of lottery using high-tech equipment.

The police seized the evidence of the case. Photo: Hong Ngoc

Accordingly, since the beginning of July 2021, through information from the masses and professional work, Thai Hoa Town Police have discovered a gambling ring in the form of lottery led by Vu Thi Ha Phuong (born 1978), residing in Quang Tien ward, Thai Hoa town.

Identifying this as a particularly large and professional gambling ring, the Town Police directly reported and asked for instructions from the leaders of the Provincial Police and at the same time, established a special project to coordinate with related units to fight.solve the case.

Most of the arrested gamblers were women. Photo: Hong Ngoc

After a period of monitoring, collecting and consolidating evidence, at about 7:00 p.m. on November 16, 2021, Thai Hoa Town Police and the Criminal Police Department of Nghe An Provincial Police coordinated with relevant units to simultaneously arrest and urgently search the residences of 13 subjects residing in Thai Hoa Town and Nghia Dan District. The seized evidence included 241 million VND in cash, 40 mobile phones, 15 ATM cards, and 2 packages of methamphetamine.

The leader of the gambling ring, Vu Thi Ha Phuong. Photo: Hong Ngoc

During the investigation, the subjects admitted their crimes. It was initially clarified that on November 16, 2021, the subjects used more than 1 billion VND for gambling. On average, each day, the subjects used from 800 million to 1 billion VND for gambling, with an estimated total of more than 100 billion VND from the beginning of July 2021 to November 16, 2021.