Hoàng Lại Nam, a 41-year-old from Hà Nội, was identified as the head of the gambling ring. — Photo courtesy of the Investigation Agency

HÀ NỘI — The police has initiated legal proceedings against 13 defendants for their alleged involvement in a major football gambling ring worth VNĐ1.6 trillion (US$64million), according to the Ministry of Public Security.

The betting activities were conducted on the website b8ag.com, the ministry said on Monday.

Six subjects will be charged with organising gambling activities – Hoàng Lại Nam, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Ngà, Đặng Văn Hiển and Trần Mạnh Tiến from Hà Nội; Phan Văn Thắng from Thái Bình Province in the north; and Trần Anh Minh from the southern province of Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

The remaining seven will be prosecuted for gambling including Nguyễn Thanh Hà, Nguyễn Xuân Hưng and Phương Hoài Nam, residents of Hà Nội; Nguyễn Thanh Sơn from Hải Phòng; Phạm Đức Tùng and Phạm Văn Phương from Thái Bình; and Hoàng Trần Trung living in HCM City.

Hoàng Lại Nam, 41, ran the gambling ring through a multilingual website hosted on an overseas server.

On July 30, the investigation agency under the Ministry of Public Security in collaboration with local police forces busted the ring which mainly operated in Hà Nội, Hải Phòng, HCM City and Bà Rịa-Vũng Tàu Province.

Police also seized eight cars, 22 cellphones, 9 PCs and cash worth US$240,000.

Police are expanding the investigation into the case. — VNS