HO CHI MINH CITY, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese police have detained two local men who ran an online gambling ring worth 13.4 million U.S. dollars.
The two detainees, La Tung Thinh and Lu Vinh Loi, both 53, and from Ho Chi Minh City, managed operations of a gambling website registered in the Philippines, Vietnam's Hi-tech Criminals Prevention and Fight Department said Tuesday.
From mid-2016 till the two men's arrest on Monday, the gambling ring in Vietnam conducted many illegal online gambling transactions totaling over 300 billion Vietnamese dong (some 13.4 million U.S. dollars).
Gambling, except in government licensed casinos, is illegal in Vietnam. Anyone found to be in violation of this law is subject to steep fines and/or a severe prison sentence. Access to licensed casinos is restricted to holders of foreign passports.
