$21.8M sports betting bust sends 63 Vietnamese to court

Vietnamese authorities have filed charges against 63 people over their involvement with an online sports betting ring in the northern part of the country.

According to Thanh Nien News, the website, which was ran from overseas, accepted more than VND487 billion (USD21.8 million) in wagers between 2012 and 2015. Bets were made on soccer, basketball and tennis games. The site also offers online poker games.

Among those facing gambling charges is 34-year-old To Cong Hung, director of Dream Weavers Online Services JSC, and five of his alleged accomplices, according to the Supreme People’s Procuracy. Investigators claimed Hung sent an estimated VND20 billion (USD896,800) in bet money to different accounts at Chinese banks, and earned about VND4.3 billion (USD192,812) from running the gambling site in Vietnam.

Gambling is largely illegal in Vietnam except for the state-run lottery and a few foreigners-only casinos, but the country has been considering relaxing its longstanding prohibition on sports betting. Several weeks ago, reports surfaced that Vietnamese finance officials are seeking the government’s approval to legalize sports betting, albeit with a maximum daily betting limit of $45.