Vietnamese authorities have uncovered an illegal online gambling operation with ties to the province of Hung Yen. Led by Pham Tri Trung, a 1993 resident of Nam Tu Liem district in Hanoi, the syndicate provided illegal payment intermediary services for online gambling portals, transmitting obscene and decadent cultural products. Working in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Security’s Department of Cyber Security and High-Tech Crime Prevention, Hung Yen police apprehended 15 individuals involved in this illicit scheme.
Trung’s partner in crime, Hoang Ich Phien, a 1990 resident of Ea H’Leo in the Dak Lak province, was responsible for coding the illegal payment intermediary website and a separate website hosting sexual content. During the raid, authorities seized computer systems and thousands of SIM cards used for illicit activities.
At the time of the bust, the illegal payment intermediary system was processing 15,000 telecom top-up cards, worth a total of nearly VND 1 billion. These cards were being “pushed” from 46 online gambling portals with servers located abroad, and the syndicate had already processed 7,000 cards, totaling over VND 600 million in transactions for mobile subscribers. Computer data also revealed the management and operation of 124 websites hosting sexual content with banners advertising gambling sites, as well as a history of USDT (cryptocurrency) transactions.
The investigation revealed that the perpetrators, with their technological expertise and interest, managed to carry out these crimes through the administration of the illegal online payment intermediary system. Each offender played a distinct role in the organization, with some acting as “agents” in various localities, communicating only through closed social media applications like Telegram. To evade detection, they frequently changed domain names and used fake IP addresses.
To attract gamblers, the syndicate provided IP spoofing software and hosted websites with sexual content, advertising gambling portals connected to the illegal payment intermediary system. Money laundering was facilitated through two methods: (1) Game publishers used multiple domestic commercial bank accounts to receive funds from the illegal payment gateway operators, with transactions not exceeding VND 499 million to avoid bank controls; (2) The illegal payment gateway operators used laundered money to purchase USDT cryptocurrency, investing in luxury assets like high-end apartments and cars.
With sufficient evidence, the investigative agency initiated legal proceedings, prosecuting 15 individuals for organizing gambling, disseminating obscene cultural products, and money laundering. On May 30, 2025, the People’s Court of My Hao Town sentenced the 15 defendants to a total of over 100 years in prison. Additionally, they confiscated over VND 25 billion, attached two luxury apartments and two high-end cars to ensure the execution of the sentence.
