{"id":72657,"date":"2018-03-12T16:00:14","date_gmt":"2018-03-12T23:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=72657"},"modified":"2018-03-12T15:53:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-12T22:53:02","slug":"vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/","title":{"rendered":"Vietnamese Communist Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vietnamese state-controlled media has announced the arrest of a former head of the country’s High-Technology Police Department, on suspicion of organizing an international gambling ring.<\/p>\n

\"Vietnamese
Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang embarked on an anti-corruption drive on assuming power in 2016, but observers are concerned he is using it as a pretext to muzzle political opponents. (Image: YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, 60, was arrested on Sunday as part of an online gambling and money laundering case.<\/p>\n

Hoa was\u00a0stripped of his “people’s police” title by the nation’s Communist leader Tran Dai Quang on Sunday, Party officials said.<\/p>\n

“This is a particularly large-scale case, using high technology, especially serious, complex and sensitive, involving many people, many sectors and provinces, involving officials within the police,” officials were quoted as saying by the Voice of Vietnam<\/em> news website.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Apart from the state lottery, all gambling is illegal in Vietnam, where not just operators but those engaging in gambling are dealt with harshly.<\/p>\n

Several of the country\u2019s hotels offer casino gambling, but for foreigners only, although reports suggest\u00a0this might\u00a0soon change at certain casinos.<\/a><\/p>\n

Vietnam Corruption Crackdown<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Like its northern neighbour, China<\/a>, Vietnam is engaged in a widespread anti-corruption drive that has recently moved from the energy and banking sectors into provincial government and the police.<\/p>\n

\n

The world was alerted to the crackdown last summer when Trinh Xuan Thanh, a one-time Politburo member and former chairman of a construction company tied to state energy supplier PetroVietnam, was kidnapped by Vietnamese agents from a Berlin park in a scene reminiscent of a Cold War spy thriller. Thanh had been trying\u00a0to claim political asylum in Germany.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

When German officials accused Vietnam of kidnap in breach of international law, the latter claimed Thanh had returned to the country of his own accord. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement and economic mismanagement.<\/p>\n

Mass Trials<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thanh got off lightly \u2013 in September, ex-PetroVietnam chairman Nguyen Xuan Son was sentenced to death for embezzlement in a trial that included 51 defendents.<\/p>\n

While corruption has long been embedded in the system in Vietnam, human rights groups are concerned that the government is using the drive as a pretext to arrest political opponents and critics of the regime on trumped up charges.<\/p>\n

“The question is what do these trials mean, not simply for corruption per se, but for the direction of Vietnamese politics and the way in which the party operates the state?” Jonathan London, an expert in Vietnam at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told the LA Times <\/em>recently.<\/p>\n

“Many people in Vietnam perceive what is occurring as not just an anti-corruption campaign, but a political purge.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vietnamese state-controlled media has announced the arrest of a former head of the country’s High-Technology Police Department, on suspicion of organizing an international gambling ring. Nguyen Thanh Hoa, 60, was arrested on Sunday as part of an online gambling and money laundering case. Hoa was\u00a0stripped of his “people’s police” title by the nation’s Communist leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":72669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-03-12T23:00:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-12T22:53:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"721\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/\",\"name\":\"Vietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-03-12T23:00:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-12T22:53:02+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":721,\"caption\":\"Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang embarked on an anti-corruption drive on assuming power in 2016, but observers are concerned he is using it as a pretext to muzzle political opponents. (Image: YouTube)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Vietnamese Communist Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\",\"name\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Casino.org Staff Writer\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Vietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust","description":"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Vietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust","og_description":"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2018-03-12T23:00:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-12T22:53:02+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":721,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Casino.org Staff Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Casino.org Staff Writer","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/","name":"Vietnamese Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg","datePublished":"2018-03-12T23:00:14+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-12T22:53:02+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77"},"description":"Police chief Nguyen Thanh Ho arrested for \u201corganizing gambling\u201d as part of Vietnam corruption drive. Many observers believe the state is using the drive as a pretext for a political purge.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Tran.jpg","width":1280,"height":721,"caption":"Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang embarked on an anti-corruption drive on assuming power in 2016, but observers are concerned he is using it as a pretext to muzzle political opponents. (Image: YouTube)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/vietnamese-communist-regime-arrests-police-chief-in-gambling-and-corruption-bust\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Vietnamese Communist Regime Arrests Police Chief in Gambling and Corruption Bust"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77","name":"Casino.org Staff Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0853bd574da5b217483afb1fbbee33a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Casino.org Staff Writer"},"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/corg-staff-writer\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72657"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}