The leader of the Vietnam Golf Association and 21 other people including business owners were detained by the police on the evening of March 20 when playing poker at a five-star hotel in Vinh Yen City, Vinh Phuc province, with amount up to over VND4.6 billion ($195,000).
The state-controlled media on March 22 quoted Lieutenant General To An Xo – a spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security – as saying that this group operates on a large scale, many of the participants are business owners or rich people.
According to the media, the Criminal Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security (C02) identified the leader as Tran Anh Linh, 47 years old, director of Tran Le Gia Company in Ho Chi Minh City.
Tuoi Tre newspaper named Mr. Le Hung Nam – Vice President, General Secretary of the Vietnam Golf Association on the list of people detained by the police.
According to Tuoi Tre, in the group of people identified with gambling behavior, there are many golfers in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City who are gathering in Vinh Phuc to prepare to participate in a golf tournament organized by the Vietnam Golf Association.
This golf tournament will take place on the Heron Lake Golf Course & Resort golf course of Dam Vac Resort and Golf Course JSC (Vinh Phuc) on March 23-25.
In addition, according to Tuoi Tre, the golf tournament that gamblers participate in has not yet been licensed to the organization by the competent authority of Vinh Phuc province.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
