Who is Nguyen Van Duong? Why was Nguyen Van Duong given the heaviest penalty?

Before delving into the information to answer this question, do you already know who Nguyen Van Duong, the “boss” of the billion-dollar gambling network, is? Nguyen Van Duong is known as the Chairman of the Management Board of the Investment and Development of Security Technology Company Limited, abbreviated as CNC, which was established in September 2011 with a charter capital of 20 billion VND.

In April 2017, after 6 years of operation, CNC obtained a license to provide intermediary services for 3 service groups, including e-wallets, e-wallet payment gateways, and household payment services, within a 10-year period.

Before becoming the Chairman of the Management Board of CNC, Duong was also the Chairman of the Management Board of UDIC Investment Corporation, which operated in the field of investment in infrastructure construction. This company was also involved in the Bac Giang – Lang Son Expressway project.

In the notorious billion-dollar gambling case that stirred public opinion in 2018, Nguyen Van Duong was one of the two masterminds behind this network through the Rikvip card game portal. He cooperated with Phan Sao Nam in operating the network and misappropriated and illegally gained over 10,000 billion VND.

The sentence for Nguyen Van Duong – the mastermind in the billion-dollar case

After the official investigation, the provincial People’s Court of Phu Tho issued the following verdicts for the two key figures in the gambling network:

Nguyen Van Duong, the “boss,” was sentenced to 5 years in prison for organizing illegal gambling and an additional 5 years for money laundering, with a total maximum penalty velvetmedia.id of 10 years in prison.

Phan Sao Nam, an accomplice who abandoned his studies for personal gain instead of serving the country and violated the law, was sentenced to 5 years in prison, including 2 years for organizing gambling and 3 years for money laundering.

Why was Nguyen Van Duong given the heaviest penalty in the Rikvip case?

According to the assessments of functional agencies and the prosecution, Nguyen Van Duong received the heaviest penalty among all the defendants, and there were grounds for it. So why was Nguyen Van Duong given the heaviest penalty in this case?

Failure to voluntarily declare and redress the consequences

During the investigation, Duong only managed to return 240 billion VND, equivalent to 15% of the amount he had benefited from. Moreover, this money was not voluntarily handed over but recovered by the investigative agencies. On the other hand, Phan Sao Nam voluntarily rectified and returned over 1,300 billion VND, accounting for more than 90%.

According to the prosecutors, in order to receive a reduced sentence, defendants must voluntarily declare and rectify the consequences. Therefore, with Duong’s behavior, there was no mitigating factor in his case. This is the answer to the question “Why was Nguyen Van Duong given the heaviest penalty?”

Nguyen Van Duong played a crucial role in the network

In assessing the roles in the case, Duong was the leader, while Nam only initiated and directed the activities. Although they did not have licenses from the relevant authorities, Duong agreed with Nam to release the online gambling game.

During the operation of the gambling network, CNC also played an important role in linking payment services, renting hotline numbers to provide customer support for Rikvip players. In particular, Duong also contacted officials in the high-tech crime prevention agency to facilitate their operations.

Phan Van Vinh and Nguyen Thanh Ho.