Hanoi police crackdown on transnational gambling ring

Investigators seized 118 mobile phones, 7 computers, various networking devices, and 91 bank accounts with a total balance of approximately VND4 billion.

They identified 44-year-old Ma Si Yuan, a Vietnamese of Chinese descent living in Yen Nghia Ward of Ha Dong District, as the ringleader.

During his time in Taiwan, Ma became acquainted with several foreign individuals and was invited to develop a gambling application. He traveled to Cambodia and Myanmar to learn about operating gambling applications.

In July 2024, the group decided not to host servers in Vietnam but only to establish portals for depositing and processing gambling transactions. Ma and his Vietnamese wife rented a house in Yen Nghia Ward to use as an office, purchased phones, computers, and cameras, and hired employees for biometric scanning.

By early September 2024, the group had installed the necessary equipment. Foreign accomplices came to Vietnam to train Ma on how to manage the operations.

To evade authorities, the group connected multiple servers to the internet to execute transactions remotely from abroad and set up an automated system to route gambling funds through numerous intermediary accounts.

Between late September 2024 and December 2024, Ma and his wife hired 16 employees, opened 91 bank accounts at various commercial banks, and, together with foreign associates, used biometric scans to transfer funds and process transactions for players on the gambling platform.

Since late September 2024, the group have facilitated gambling transactions worth approximately VND1 trillion on the platform, according to the police.

The case is currently being investigated further.