Gambling network involves Vietnam

Police authorities have determined that a group of Vietnamese people in Korea managed an illegal gambling network that targeted and attracted Vietnamese immigrants in Korea to “XOSO,” the Vietnamese lottery.

The North Gyeongsang Provincial Police Agency has arrested 25 alleged gambling managers and questioned 112 victims related to the lottery gambling ring.

While it’s technically not illegal to purchase lottery tickets in Korea or abroad, it is illegal to organize a gambling ring without permission from the government.

Police said the managers also pocketed about 2 billion won and invested in properties in Vietnam and in other illegal activities The managers operated their network using mobile phones from December 2008 to March 2010.

In addition, the gambling network made 20,000 won ($18) bets on one ticket, exponentially more than the 300 won minimum allowed for XOSO.

“The total number of bets was about 7 billion won [$6.3 million],” said an official at the police agency’s foreign affairs bureau.

In Korea, the arrested managers made bets of up to 20,000 won per ticket, and if they won, they got paid four times their initial bet.

The Vietnamese gamblers sent text massages to the managers to tell them what numbers they wanted to select - double-digit numbers from 00 to 99 - and how much money to put down.They then transferred money to a manager’s bank account.

The gamblers found out whether they won through the official XOSO Web site and any winnings would be transferred by the managers into the gamblers’ accounts.

By Kim Hee-jin [heejin@joongang.co.kr]