Nineteen individuals caught gambling; further charges filed against them for World Cup football betting.

From March 1st to 6th, 2019, the Tan Ky District People's Court tried a criminal case against 19 defendants for gambling offenses.

The 19 defendants include Van Ba ​​Hiep, Hoang Tuan Anh, Nguyen Ngoc Thang, Truong Khanh Hai, Dau Ngoc Luc, Tran Quang Manh, Van Ba ​​Diep, Van Ba ​​Tung, Nguyen Van Ngoc, Ta Danh Quang, Gian Viet Lap, Nguyen Van Nghia, Cu Xuan Cai, Dang Xuan Luc, Ha Xuan Hoang, Tran Van Tu, and Vo Van Hop.

According to the 103-page indictment, at 5:10 AM on July 16, 2018, at the house of Nguyen Ngoc Thang in Tan Thai hamlet, Tan Phu commune, Tan Ky district, the Tan Ky District Police caught Thang, Tuan Anh, Hiep, and Linh red-handed gambling using the "chuong" card game. The investigation proved that the amount of money the defendants used for gambling was 2,760,000 VND.

19 defendants at the trial. Photo: Nguyen Tran

Furthermore, the Investigation Agency of Tan Ky District Police has investigated and clarified that during the 2018 World Cup football season, which took place from June 14, 2018 to July 15, 2018, Hiep, Tuan Anh, and Thang engaged in gambling in the form of betting with the other defendants mentioned above.

At the beginning of the 2018 World Cup Finals, knowing that many people wanted to bet on football, Hiep discussed with Anh Tuan the idea of ​​finding someone who managed an online football betting site, obtaining their account, and then acting as an intermediary to receive bets and money from those who wanted to bet, thereby profiting from the betting.

Hiep contacted Hoang and Trong, residents of Tan Ky town, by phone to request website accounts for online football betting. Trong provided him with the website Bong88.com and its access code.“ID:Tva8axy03H07”,password“ZZZZ1111”and instruct Hiep on how to access the page."Bong88.com"Using the access code and password above to place football bets, and as agreed with Hiep, the calculation and payment of winnings and losses will be made every Monday.

Hiep and Tuan Anh agreed to lower the winning percentage in betting odds received from the website to 0.5% before sending them to bettors so that when the bettors win, Hiep and Anh would receive 0.5% of the difference in winning percentage...

When the match ended, the perpetrators would collect the money from those who lost bets, balance it with the winnings, and settle the winnings and losses with the online gambling provider. Using this method, the perpetrators committed 64 consecutive gambling acts across 64 football matches in the 2018 World Cup Finals.

Hiep was the person who received bets from gamblers and directly balanced the winnings and losses to settle payments with the gamblers and the online gambling site manager. Hiep was held responsible for the largest gambling amount in a single bet, which was 383,225,000 VND.

Tuan Anh directly committed 64 acts of football betting across 64 football matches. Tuan Anh is criminally liable for the largest amount of money involved in a single gambling instance, which was 383,225,000 VND.

Thang committed the act of accepting bets 63 times across 63 football matches and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money involved in a single gambling instance, which was 193,825,000 VND.

Tu Anh committed two acts of accepting bets and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money involved in a single gambling instance, which was 87,375,000 VND.

Ngoc participated in 42 gambling sessions across 42 matches, and she is criminally liable for the largest amount of money involved in a single gambling instance, which was 115,500,000 VND.

Cai participated in gambling twice through two matches, and Cai is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in one instance, which was 81,600,000 VND.

Winning 40 times across 40 matches, the defendant is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 49,950,000 VND.

Lực participated in gambling 42 times across 42 matches, and is criminally liable for the largest amount gambled in a single instance, which was 45,000,000 VND.

Hop participated in gambling 15 times and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 10,000,000 VND.

Tung participated in gambling three times across three matches, and was held criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 39,000,000 VND.

Hoang participated in gambling three times across three matches, and is criminally liable for the largest amount gambled in a single instance, which was 9,900,000 VND.

Diep was held criminally liable for the largest amount of money involved in a single gambling incident, which was 32,478,000 VND.

Xuan Luc participated in gambling and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 30,250,000 VND.

Quang participated in gambling and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 18,375,000 VND..

Manh participated in gambling and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 11,550,000 VND.

Tu participated in gambling and is criminally liable for the largest amount of money gambled in a single instance, which was 9,455,000 VND.

Ngoc Luc participated in gambling with a total amount of 31,200,000 VND.

Nghia participated in gambling with a total amount of 19,800,000 VND.

At least once, Lap participated in gambling during the final match, with a total gambling amount of 5,775,000 VND.

At the end of the trial, the panel of judges sentenced Hiep to 38 months in prison; Tuan Anh to 36 months in prison; Thang to 24 months in prison; four defendants: Manh, Dau Luc, Nghia, and Lap were fined a total of 82 million VND; the remaining defendants were sentenced to non-custodial correctional treatment.

Nguyen Tran