Who is the "boss" of the trillion-dollar gambling ring, Nguyen Van Duong?

Police searched Mr. Hoa's house on the evening of March 11. Small photo: Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa. Photo: G.Long

According to Phu Tho Provincial Police, as of March 12, the provincial Security Investigation Agency has prosecuted 74 defendants, of which more than 30 defendants are detained to investigate the case of using the Internet to commit acts of property appropriation, organizing gambling, gambling, illegal purchase and sale of invoices and money laundering.

Among the defendants, there is Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa -Former director of the High-Tech Police Department - prosecuted for "organizing gambling".

Based on the initial investigation results, the investigation agency determined that this large-scale gambling ring had been operating since 2014, led by Nguyen Van Duong (then Chairman of the Board of Directors of High-Tech Security Development Investment Company Limited - CNC).

Huge gambling ring exposed from fraud case

In May 2017, Phu Tho Provincial Police received a complaint from Ms. Vo Minh P. (residing in Nong Trang Ward, Viet Tri City, Phu Tho) about a subject using social media to scam her. Ms. P. was tricked by this subject into sending more than 100 phone cards worth more than 50 million VND.

Immediately, Phu Tho police set up a special task force to investigate.

From the collected documents and evidence, the investigation agency (IA) determined that the subject who defrauded and appropriated Ms. P's property was Le Van Huy (21 years old, residing in Quang Tri).

A source said Huy hacked and broke into the social media account of a nephew of Mrs. P. who was living abroad. Huy "chatted" and asked Mrs. P. to buy a phone card and send him the card number.

After sending it to Huy many times, Mrs. P. became suspicious and contacted her nephew to ask specifically. At this time, Mrs. P. realized she had been scammed and reported it to the police.

Around July 2017, Phu Tho police arrested Le Van Huy to investigate the act of fraud and property appropriation. During the investigation, Huy confessed to using the fraudulent card number converted into virtual money to gamble online through the Rikvip card game portal.

Continuing to expand the investigation, the police found traces of this transnational gambling ring led by Nguyen Van Duong.

Who is Nguyen Van Duong?

Mr. Nguyen Van Duong (43 years old) is Chairman of the Board of Directors of High-Tech Security Development Investment Company Limited (CNC), established in September 2011 with an initial capital of 20 billion VND.

In April 2017, this company was granted a license to provide intermediary payment services with 3 groups of services including: electronic payment gateway services; electronic wallet services; collection and payment services for a period of 10 years.

Previously, Mr. Duong was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of UDIC Investment Joint Stock Company, a member of the consortium of investors in the Bac Giang - Lang Son City expressway construction investment project.

At the time of project implementation, UDIC was the enterprise investing the most equity capital with a rate of 38% (491 billion VND).

However, due to insufficient financial capacity, in March 2017, the Ministry of Transport issued a document announcing the termination of the project contract of this consortium. After that, the Ministry of Transport approved the restructuring plan of UDIC Investment Joint Stock Company with the participation of other groups of investors.

A leader of the Department of Public-Private Partnership, Ministry of Transport said that in 2017, UDIC Investment Joint Stock Company withdrew from the Bac Giang - Lang Son City expressway project.

Divide 20% of profits to police general for "protection"

During the investigation, the authorities determined that the gambling ring led by Duong had been operating since 2014. In just a short time, this ring had "extended its tentacles" to 13 provinces and cities across the country with 25 agents. The operating server was located in Hanoi.

There is also a server located abroad so that "gamblers" not only in the country but also abroad can participate in "gambling". The number of people participating in gambling has increased rapidly to tens of millions of registered accounts.

Why has a gambling ring of such a large scale been able to exist openly for such a long time without being destroyed? Through professional measures, Phu Tho Police discovered signs of officials in the industry participating in "protecting" the gambling ring.

From the investigation documents, the investigation agency determined that Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, although in his role as director of C50, did not prevent or handle illegal acts but also assisted in "protection".

Accordingly, Mr. Hoa signed a contract with Nguyen Van Duong regarding the operation of Duong's company.

According to the agreement, Mr. Phan Sao Nam (former chairman of the Board of Directors of VTC Online) will receive 60% of the profits from the gambling line, while Duong will receive 40% of the profits.

In the contract Mr. Hoa signed with Duong, this former director will receive about 20% of the profits from the amount Duong receives.

Upon his arrest, Duong confessed that he had benefited from about 800 billion VND. However, the defendant Duong also said that he had not "shared" the profits with Mr. Hoa. Meanwhile, Mr. Phan Sao Nam said that he lent Mr. Hoa some money and has not yet asked for it back.

Currently, the Investigation Police are continuing to investigate and clarify these issues.

Defendant Phan Sao Nam

Money laundering!

Among the 74 people prosecuted, the investigation agency determined that there was a group of defendants who illegally bought and sold invoices.

The two main suspects in this crime group are Ms. Le Thi Lan Thanh and Ms. Luu Thi Hong. Both are leaders of a company in Hanoi.

Ms. Hong assisted, and Ms. Thanh directed the illegal purchase and sale of invoices to legalize the flow of thousands of billions from gambling. Both were prosecuted and temporarily detained to serve the investigation.

In addition, a group of defendants were prosecuted for "money laundering". The two defendants with the main roles are Phan Thu Huong and Do Bich Thuy. Both are relatives of Mr. Phan Sao Nam.

The investigation agency determined that these two suspects had "laundered" money from the gambling ring. Specifically, after receiving the profits, Mr. Nam deposited the money into many accounts. Ms. Huong and Ms. Thuy withdrew part of this money to buy many assets, including real estate.

Initially, the investigation agency clarified that defendant Huong used about 150 billion, defendant Thuy used about 130 billion to buy other assets.