Online football gambling ring handles USD 191 million

Hoang Ta Minh Cuong ran an online football gambling operation for 10 months, processing approximately USD 191 million in bets.

On 15/9, the Criminal Police Department (C02) of the Ministry of Public Security announced the arrest of 12 suspects for "organizing gambling" and 13 others for "gambling."

According to C02, the ring was led by 30-year-old Hoang Ta Minh Cuong from Thanh Nam ward, Ninh Binh province. In July 2024, Cuong connected with an overseas contact via Telegram to obtain a "Super" administrator account on the bong88xxx website, facilitating online football gambling. The credit limit was 7 million points, with each point equivalent to 6,000 Vietnamese dong (VND), totaling approximately 70 billion VND (around USD 2.9 million).

Police interview Hoang Ta Minh Cuong. Photo: Provided by the police

Police interview Hoang Ta Minh Cuong. Photo: Provided by the police

Cuong collaborated with accomplices to calculate winnings and losses, utilizing bank accounts to transfer and receive funds for the gambling operation. He divided the "Super" administrator account into multiple tiers: "Master," "Agent," and "Member," distributing them to subordinates. These lower-level members further subdivided the "Agent" accounts into "Member" accounts, providing them to other individuals for football gambling to generate illicit profits.

C02 alleges the ring facilitated bets on numerous football matches, with some individual matches reaching hundreds of millions of VND. Every Monday, the group settled bets through direct cash payments or bank transfers.

Initial investigations reveal that from November 2024 to September 2025, the ring processed approximately 90 million points in football bets, equivalent to 540 billion VND (approximately USD 22.9 million).

The Criminal Police Department (C02) of the Ministry of Public Security stated that the total amount of bets, calculated from November 2024 to September 2025, was approximately 4,500 billion VND (around USD 191 million), based on the 90 million points wagered and a conversion rate of one point to 6,000 VND. This significantly higher figure reflects the accumulated bets over the 10-month period, as opposed to the initial credit limit provided to Cuong.