Vietnam Bust

Published: Wednesday, November 08, 2006 Online-Casinos.com

VIETNAM BUST

The Vietnamese may be moving toward regulation, but it's not there yet...


Pawn shop proprietor Vu Hanh in Ho Chi Minh City in the north of Vietnam may have been betting on a more understanding attitude toward online gambling by the authorities in view of recent moves toward regulation in that country, but he underestimated their determination to stamp out Internet sports betting.

The local constabulary disrupted Vu Hanh's unofficial online football bookie business this week when they raided the multiple premises used by the entrepreneur. Several houses were searched for evidence of the online betting operation in the bust, with police seizing large amounts of cash, computers and records.

Seven Vietnamese, believed to be members of the online gambling gang were arrested on charges that they were involved in taking bets in local currency valued at the equivalent of around US$3 000 to US$4 000 a day.