Vietnamese police have dismantled a large-scale transnational gambling ring that used artificial intelligence (AI) to launder money, a method officials say is a first for the country.
Key Details of the Operation
Police in the northern province of Thai Binh have launched legal proceedings against 21 individuals involved in a criminal case related to gambling and money laundering. The investigation began after authorities identified a gambling website, ‘KUBET,’ which was hosted on servers located abroad and featured various games like lotteries, football betting, and dice games.
The sophisticated ring attracted over one million user accounts, with total bets exceeding 1 trillion Vietnamese dong (around $39.2 million). Users accessed the site via their phones, creating accounts linked to their personal bank accounts to deposit and withdraw funds.
How the AI-Powered Money Laundering Worked
Authorities discovered that, in addition to running the gambling operation, the suspects were actively engaged in money laundering. The ring was led by a suspect in Taiwan who worked with an accomplice in Vietnam to manage operations. They hired people to open bank accounts in Vietnam for gamblers to deposit their money.
The ringleader then used computers with pre-installed banking apps to move the gambling funds through a complex network of accounts to hide their origin. For larger transactions of 10 million dong ($392) or more, which typically require biometric verification like a facial scan, the criminals used AI-generated videos of the account holders’ faces to bypass security protocols. This allowed them to complete high-value transactions without the account holders’ physical presence.
The Aftermath
To date, police have frozen more than 500 bank accounts, with an estimated 200 billion dong ($7.84 million) being laundered each month. Between September 2024 and April 2025, the total laundered amount is estimated to have exceeded 1 trillion dong ($39.2 million).
The investigation is ongoing as police continue to track down other members of the ring.
