Vietnam courts sentence 64 members of online gambling ring
VOV.VN - The People’s Court of Ho Chi Minh City has sentenced 38-year-old Singapore resident Wong Boon Leong to 14 months and 24 days in prison for acting as the ringleader of an illegal online betting ring.
Specially, Leong and his gang of local agents were charged and convicted of drumming up business for Dafabet.com, which holds a license issued by the First Cagayan Leisure and Resort Corporation in the Philippines.
Wong’s sentence matches the time he’s spent behind bars since he and his cronies were arrested in December 2015. The net result is that Wong was allowed to walk free following his sentence, which also required Wong to pay a fine of US$4,400 (VND100 million) and forfeit another US$22,000 (VND 500 million) he earned from his illicit dealings.
Wong arrived in Vietnam in December 2014, where he liaised with three Ho Chi Minh City residents, who in turn recruited another 60 locals to arrange bets, collect losses and distribute winnings to bettors.
At the time of the 2015 arrests, police said the ring had handled around US$45 million (VND1 trillion) of wagers.
The remaining members of the former gang received sentences on March 13 ranging from nine months of probation to three years in prison. Most of the convicted were charged with opening bank accounts to funnel money to and from Dafabet.com.