80 engineers developed software for an online gambling platform worth tens of trillions of dong.

On the afternoon of November 16th, the Phu Tho Provincial People's Court continued the first-instance trial of 92 defendants in the transnational gambling ring case involving trillions of dong, focusing on how the online gambling games were set up.

According to the case file, in 2014, Phan Sao Nam (35 years old, Chairman and Director of VTC Online Joint Stock Company) met Hoang Thanh Trung (36 years old, former director of the software center - VTC Intecom Technology and Digital Content Company) and Trung boasted about owning software and a skilled technical team that could develop and operate an online gambling software system in the form of card games.

Trung requested to borrow a legal entity to develop and operate an online gambling software. In response, Nam contacted Do Bich Thuy (owner of Nam Viet Housing and Land Development Company Limited) and they immediately opened a representative office in Hanoi, giving Trung full authority to manage it.

Knowing that the High-Tech Security Development Investment Company Limited (CNC) was a front company for C50 (the Department of Police for Combating High-Tech Crimes, General Department of Police), Nam invited Nguyen Van Duong (Chairman of CNC) to cooperate in releasing online gambling software, and Duong agreed.

In early April 2015, Duong instructed his subordinate, Luu Thi Hong (General Director of CNC), to sign a contract with Nam to provide software services and technology solutions for the commercial exploitation of online card games under the name RikVip.

After signing a contract with CNC company, Nam instructed Phan Anh Tuan (Deputy Director of Technology at VTC Online) to purchase equipment and sign a contract to rent server space in Cau Giay district. Tuan and other technical staff from VTC Online then set up a system of 262 machines for the RikVip online gambling game to operate.

In mid-April 2015, Hoang Thanh Trung completed the software and began organizing online gambling.

On the afternoon of November 16th, defendants Kim Thanh Thuy and Pham Trong Tai (former technical staff of Nam Viet company) testified that they were hired by CNC to create the Rikvip card game and complete the gambling software.

Tai stated that he was a top student nationally and had received many awards. Tai received the source code from Hoang Thanh Trung and then modified the interface. Tai also assisted the other defendants in operating the game. In response to the judge's question, "Who wrote the Rikvip game software?", Tai said that Rikvip was essentially a set of source code.

Meanwhile, according to the indictment, Trung, when assigned by Do Bich Thuy to manage the company's Hanoi office, directly recruited and hired 36 employees from VTC Intercom to work at the branch. Subsequently, Trung gradually recruited over 80 people to participate in operating the game.

Trung instructed Tài to register the domain name "Rikvip.vn" at GMO Runsystem Company on April 18, 2015, to test its operation. After the game ran stably, on June 25, 2015, Tài submitted a request to return the domain name, and Nguyễn Văn Dương instructed Lưu Thị Hồng to register the domain name Rikvip.vn from June 30, 2015.

Trung also directed Kim Thanh Thuy (33 years old, Head of Core Department), Pham Trong Tai, Nguyen Viet Cuong, and other employees recruited by Trung to build, supplement, and develop the Rikvip online gambling portal software. The software operates on web and mobile devices (phones, tablets) and is gradually pushed to the VTC Online Company's server system to organize online gambling.

A total of 54 card games have been developed, featuring various card game formats such as: Sic Bo, Three Cards, Ta La, Poker, Bai Cao, Lieng, Xoc Xoc, Chan, Tien Len Mien Nam, Mau Binh, Poker, Sam Loc, Tien Len Mien Bac, Bau Cua, So Do, Sicbo, Sam Truyen, Vuong Quoc Rik, Roulette, Thuy Cung, Gai Nhay... Players use virtual currency (called Rik).

They lent the company because they believed in Phan Sào Nam's success.

According to the case file, after lending the legal entity, on April 12, 2015, the defendant Do Bich Thuy (Chairwoman of the Board of Directors and Director of Nam Viet Housing and Land Development Co., Ltd.) signed a contract with Nam regarding the "development and business exploitation of software" services named "Win2All," commercially exploited under the name Rikvip. The contract included the following content: "...

Party B (Nam Viet Company) is a partner of Party A (VTC Online Company) in the production, development, and operation of online services on the Internet and telecommunications networks... VTC Online Company is responsible for publishing, marketing, and commercially exploiting these services.

Regarding the contract, on the afternoon of November 16th, with a choked voice, Ms. Thuy testified that she heard Nam say he needed a legally established company with a long history to contract for software development for VTC Online, and she agreed. Trusting Nam, she didn't review the contract, only seeing that Nam said it was a technology development contract.

Defendant Thuy stated that Nam's mother is her mother's younger sister. She founded the Nam Viet real estate company. The business registration documents show two shareholders, but in reality, there is only one.

Ms. Thuy said she had absolute trust in Nam because the two sisters had been together since childhood. "Nam's success made me trust her completely, so I deprived myself of the right to ask questions and to know. Now, standing before the court, I realize that my lack of understanding was a mistake that led to my violation, but I truly never held any resentment towards Nam," Ms. Thuy testified. Behind her, Nam bowed her head, her face sad.

"Since working with the investigative agency, I have known in my conscience that it was an unacceptable mistake. To this day, I understand that it was an act of aiding and abetting, without any coercion from Nam. I also didn't understand anything about the Rikvip card game," Thuy said, her voice choked with emotion.

Ms. Thuy stated that Nam Viet Company is still operating. She voluntarily surrendered 50 billion VND due to illicit profits. In this case, she is being prosecuted for the crime of...Gambling organizationas an accomplice.

Phan Sào Nam inflated the value of the contract.

This afternoon, defendant Huynh Trong Van (director of ODS company - online data business) testified that his company had signed contracts to lease servers and internet connections with Nam Viet Company and VTC Online.

Van admitted to knowing Phan Sao Nam for a long time, through gaming seminars. In 2015, Nam approached Van about renting a server system. ODS leased 85 servers to Nam Viet and 8 to VTC Online. However, the contracts were inflated to 235 and 32 servers respectively. The contract value was also inflated tenfold.

The defendant testified that no percentage was given to him personally, but all the inflated profits were transferred to the companies.

According to the allegations, Van's company benefited by 7.8 billion VND. However, Van testified that during the course of his work, he repeatedly requested the investigating agency and the Procuratorate to reconsider the contract value because the money spent maintaining the server system was nearly 7.8 billion VND. Therefore, the actual profit was only 116 million VND, which he has already repaid to the Enforcement Department. "I request the Panel of Judges to reconsider the amount of profit," Van said.

Nam was summoned for questioning. He confirmed the information Van had just given, but said he couldn't remember many details.

The trial continues today.

Bao Ha - Pham Du