Police bust $23mn football betting ring in Vietnam’s Quang Ngai

The investigative police agency under the provincial Department of Public Security announced on Wednesday that it had indicted 10 suspects for organizing and participating in online gambling.

The ring was led by Tran Ngoc Hoang, 35, from Ho Chi Minh City.

According to local police, this was the largest online football betting ring ever uncovered in the province.

Authorities said the network was discovered after officers monitored suspicious activities in cyberspace and identified an online football betting operation involving participants from multiple provinces and cities across the country.

To conceal their activities, members of the ring used anonymous accounts and communicated through encrypted messaging platforms such as Telegram, Zalo, and Facebook.

They frequently changed communication channels, used unregistered SIM cards, and relied on multiple intermediary bank accounts to evade law enforcement.

On May 30, after gathering sufficient evidence, police launched coordinated raids at multiple locations and dismantled the football betting ring operated by Hoang and his accomplices.

During questioning, all the suspects admitted their involvement in the ring, police said.

Preliminary findings showed that Hoang operated a Super-level football betting account on the website agbong88.com.

Using this account, he built and managed a multi-tiered system comprising nine Master accounts, nine Agent accounts, and 104 Member accounts.

Through this structured network, the group recruited participants to place online football bets across multiple provinces and cities nationwide.

According to investigators, from the beginning of 2026 until the operation was dismantled, total gambling transactions topped VND600 billion ($22.8 million).

Police said they are continuing to broaden the investigation and identify other suspects for further legal action.