{"id":777011779,"date":"2023-12-11T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T13:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777011779"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:50:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T17:50:59","slug":"vietnam-dozens-of-foreigners-under-investigation-after-hanoi-gambling-raid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/vietnam-dozens-of-foreigners-under-investigation-after-hanoi-gambling-raid","title":{"rendered":"Vietnam: dozens of foreigners under investigation after Hanoi gambling raid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Police allege they were involved in high-stakes poker games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Vietnam.- Dozens of people, including citizens of Korea, Taiwan, and Japan, are under investigation after police raided <strong>the Lucas Palace Club<\/strong>, on Mac Thai To Street in the Cau Giay District back on October 15. Police say that 16 people were playing poker games with stakes as high as VND20bn (US$825,400).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Ministry of Public Security said an additional 11 people were put under investigation for alleged roles in organised the games. Club manegers <strong>Dao Anh Dung<\/strong>, 31, and\u00a0<strong>Tran Xuan Minh<\/strong>, 33, are alleged to have oveseen the games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to VN Express, the club implemented a structured system with Vietnamese nationals having to to establish themselves as regulars on the second floor while foreigners were granted immediate access to the poker tables. The club allegedly imposed a 5 per cent charge on stakes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/vietnam%20to%20inspect%20casinos%20after%20reports%20of%20illegal%20activities\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gambling in Vietnam is illegal<\/a>&nbsp;outside a handful of venues and is punishable with fines of between VND100m and VND50m (US$430 to US$2,150). Online gambling is prohibited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Police allege they were involved in high-stakes poker games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Vietnamese authorities raided the Lucas Palace Club, investigating dozens, including foreign nationals, for operating and participating in high-stakes illegal poker games with stakes up to US$825,400. The club allegedly facilitated a structured system, charging a 5% rake, in violation of Vietnam's strict gambling prohibitions outside designated venues. This incident underscores the persistent challenges in combating illicit gaming operations and enforcing regulatory frameworks in restricted markets.","focusai_entities":"Lucas Palace Club, Dao Anh Dung, Tran Xuan Minh, Ministry of Public Security","focusai_location":"Vietnam, Cau Giay District","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.8), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.7), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.9)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Enforcement Impact","query":"What are the broader implications of this enforcement action on the regulatory landscape for both land-based and online gaming verticals in Vietnam, particularly concerning potential shifts in governance frameworks or increased scrutiny of legitimate operations?"},{"label":"AML Risk Assessment","query":"How does the alleged 5% rake on high-stakes illegal poker games, involving foreign nationals, elevate the anti-money laundering (AML) risk profile for financial institutions operating in Vietnam, and what enhanced due diligence measures might be warranted?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[20326],"class_list":["post-777011779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-illegal-gambling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777011779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777011779"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777011779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777011812,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777011779\/revisions\/777011812"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777011779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777011779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777011779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}