$40 mln football gambling ring busted as World Cup looms

Nguyen Duy Tung, 31, and five others have been detained pending investigations into gambling and organizing gambling, police in the northern province of Bac Ninh said Wednesday.

Tung has been heading the ring since the beginning of this year through the Bongda88 website. On November 13, over 100 police officers from multiple forces raided multiple locations related to the ring in Bac Ninh, Hanoi and Vinh Phuc.

The raids netted 15 phones, four cars, multiple bank cards and other relevant documents.

Gambling remains illegal in Vietnam outside a handful of casinos; and even there, Vietnamese citizens need to meet certain financial and other criteria to play.

Gambling and organizing related gaming activities in Vietnam carry fines of VND10-50 million ($430-2,150) and jail terms of three to seven years.