Thursday February 26,2015 : THREE OREGON MEN CHARGED FOR ILLEGAL ONLINE SPORTS BETTING
Arcade gaming venue used as a front for illegal gambling.
Three Oregon men, Binh Hoang, Kiet Anh Vo and Vinh T. Nguyen – pleaded not guilty on illegal sports betting and money laundering charges this week when they appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge John V. Acosta in Portland.
Judge Acosta noted the pleas for a subsequent trial and allowed the men to remain out of custody subject to conditions.
Federal prosecutors told the court that a gaming arcade was used as a front for illegal gambling activity that included sports betting through an offshore website titled VNBets.com. Federal agents raided the premises on January 28 and seized equipment and documents as evidence, they advised.
They allege that Vo financed and managed the online gambling business and employed "bookies" who took bets over the phone or in person through the ring's website at VNBets.com.
Customers would deposit cash into various bank accounts belonging to Nguyen and other associates and relatives, the indictment claims.
Vo and Nguyen are also accused of buying marijuana in bulk amounts and shipping it to locations in the South, including Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Nguyen travelled to the East Coast to collect drug proceeds and carry them back to Oregon on commercial flights, and was caught carrying $69,785 in alleged marijuana profits when he arrived in Portland on a flight from North Carolina, prosecutors said.
Vo and Vingh Nguyen are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Others rounded up in the recent raids — Quan Anh Ho, Tan Quoc Tran, Duy Huynh, Nhat Luu, Hoa Nguyen, Thai Viet Huynh and James Dang – also face a charge of conspiring to commit money laundering.
Dang is accused of financing, managing, supervising and directing a gambling business that violated Oregon law. According to government court papers, he ran the business through two companies: Golden Amusement and Jade Enterprise.