A group of men and women gambled after visiting a sick person.

On December 31, Tan Ky District People's Court tried the criminal case against Vu Van Thi, Vu Hong Than, Nguyen Huu Ky, Phan Ngoc Thi, Nguyen Van Tan, Nguyen Duc Manh, Ngo Thi Hang, Luu Thi Thuong Quy, and Ngo Tri Thanh for the crime of“Gamble”.

At about 1:30 p.m. on October 20, 2020, Nguyen Huu Ky went to the house of Mr. Nguyen Huu Tiep, residing in Vien Thai hamlet, Nghia Thai commune, Tan Ky district to visit Ms. Nguyen Thi Huan (Mr. Tiep's wife) who had just returned from the hospital.

Gambling participants in court. Photo: Phuong Hao

After the visit, Ky went out to the yard to drink water with some people including Nguyen Van Tan, Vu Hong Than, Ngo Tri Thanh, all residing in Nghia Thai commune, Tan Ky district and a woman named Thanh with a Northern accent. While drinking water, Ky had the idea of ​​gambling by shaking the dice.

Then, Ky went into Mr. Tiep's house, took a set of white porcelain bowls and plates and said: "Just do it for fun” (Meaning inviting everyone to gamble by “shaking the dice”), all of the above people agreed and sat on the plastic mat that the family had laid out in advance for guests to sit and drink water at the front porch of Mr. Nguyen Huu Tiep’s house and agreed to gamble by “shaking the dice”, betting “even” or “odd”, each game from 100,000 VND to 200,000 VND. Before gambling, Ky gave Nguyen Van Tan 400,000 VND and asked Nguyen Van Tan to pay the winnings and losses to the gamblers. After that, Ky held the dice to gamble with Vu Hong Than, Ngo Tri Thanh and a woman named Thanh.

At about 2:30 p.m. the same day, Phan Ngoc Thi and Nguyen Duc Manh, both residing in Vien Thai hamlet, Nghia Thai commune; Ngo Thi Hang, residing in Tien Thanh hamlet, Nghia Hoan commune and Luu Thi Thuong Quy, residing in Xuan Ly hamlet, Tan Phu commune, Tan Ky district, came to Mr. Tiep's house to play and saw the subjects gambling, so they also sat down to participate in the gambling.

A while later, a strange man who worked as a taxi driver took Mr. Nguyen Huu Nhi and his wife, born in 1956, residing in Hong Tam hamlet, Nghia Hong commune, Nghia Dan district to Mr. Tiep's house to visit Mrs. Huan. Seeing the subjects gambling, he also joined in gambling with the above mentioned people.

Among the gamblers, two were women. Photo: Phuong Hao

At about 2:55 p.m. the same day, while the subjects were gambling with each other, the Nghia Thai Commune Police in coordination with Tan Ky District Police raided and caught them red-handed, seizing 12,000,000 VND and many other items from the gambling table.

When the Tan Ky District Police force came to catch them red-handed, taking advantage of a loophole, Nguyen Huu Ky, Phan Ngoc Thi, Ngo Tri Thanh, Nguyen Duc Manh, Luu Thi Thuong Quy, a woman named Thanh and the taxi driver fled the scene.

At 7:30 p.m. on October 20, 2020, realizing that his gambling behavior was a violation of the law, Nguyen Huu Ky went to the Tan Ky District Police Investigation Agency to surrender. Then, on October 26 and November 12, 2020, Phan Ngoc Thi and Luu Thi Thuong Quy went to the Tan Ky District Police Investigation Agency to surrender, to enjoy leniency under the law.

Through investigation, it was proven that the subjects participated in gambling with the total amount of money that the subjects used for gambling purposes being: 14,100,000 VND.

Nguyen Van Tan did not directly participate in gambling but helped the bookmaker Nguyen Huu Ky pay the winnings and losses to the gamblers, so he was an accomplice in gambling. Tan has been tried three times for gambling. Hang has also been tried once for gambling.

In this case, Nguyen Duc Manh is the person who committed the gambling act with the above defendants but has fled the locality and has not been arrested. Therefore, the Investigation Police Agency of Tan Ky District Police has separated Nguyen Duc Manh's gambling act and will handle it later when he is arrested.

At the end of the trial, the panel sentenced Tan to 24 months in prison, Hang to 12 months in prison, Ky to 18 months suspended, Thanh to 8 months suspended, Van Thi and Than to 7 months suspended, Ngoc Thi to 6 months suspended and Thuong Quy to 5 months suspended.