Vietnam: In case customers come to the shop to play cards for money during Tet holiday, will the shop owner or the customer be the one to be penalized?
What forms of illegal gambling in Vietnam are there?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 28 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam on forms of illegal gambling in Vietnam, including:
- Participation in lottery-based gambling
- Illegally gambling with one of the forms such as “xoc dia”, “ta la”, “to tom”, “tu lo kho”, “tam cuc”, “3 cay”, “tu sac”, “do den”, “co the”, “binh an do 6 la”, “binh xap xam 13 la”, “tien len 13 la”, “da ga”, “tai xiu” or other forms which are lost or won in cash, property or in kind;
- Gambling with machine or illegal electronic games;
- Illegally betting in sports competition, entertainment or other activities.
Vietnam: In case customers come to the shop to play cards for money during Tet holiday, will the shop owner or the customer be the one to be penalized?
In case customers come to the shop to play cards during Lunar New Year, will the shop owner or the customer be the one to be penalized?
Pursuant to the provisions of Article 28 of Decree 144/2021/ND-CP of Vietnam stipulating as follows:
Illegal gambling
1. A fine of from VND 200.000 to VND 500.000 shall be imposed for participation in lottery-based gambling:
2. A fine of from VND 1.000.000 to VND 2.000.000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:
a) Illegally gambling with one of the forms such as “xoc dia”, “ta la”, “to tom”, “tu lo kho”, “tam cuc”, “3 cay”, “tu sac”, “do den”, “co the”, “binh an do 6 la”, “binh xap xam 13 la”, “tien len 13 la”, “da ga”, “tai xiu” or other forms which are lost or won in cash, property or in kind;
b) Gambling with machine or illegal electronic games;
c) Illegally betting in sports competition, entertainment or other activities.
3. A fine of from VND 2.000.000 to VND 5.000.000 shall be imposed for any of the following violations:
a) Illegally receiving deposit, pawn or loan at casinos or other gambling places;
b) Selling illegal lottery number, lottery sheet or printed matters used for playing illegal lottery; handing them over to another person to receive commissions;
c) Assisting, concealing the illegal gambling;
d) Protecting illegal casinos or other gambling places;
dd) An owner, a manager of machine or illegal electronic games, a head of business establishment in term of electronic games or another business establishment allows illegal gambling to happen at their establishments due to lack of sense of responsibility
4. A fine of from VND 5.000.000 to VND 10.000.000 shall be imposed for one of the acts of gambling organization as follows:
a) Enticing, inciting or gathering people for illegal gambling;
b) Using home or accommodation or other means and locations to organize the gambling;
c) Illegally placing gambling or electronic game machine;
d) Organizing illegal betting activities;
5. A fine of from VND 10.000.000 to VND 20.000.000 shall be imposed for one of acts of organizing the illegal lottery as follows:
a) As a banker;
b) Organizing the production and distribution of illegal lottery sheets or other printed matters used for illegal lottery playing;
c) Organizing network for sales of illegal lottery;
d) Organizing the betting in sports competition activities, entertainment or in the other forms to play gambling for money;
6. Additional penalties:
a) Confiscate the exhibits and means used for committing administrative violations specified in Clause 1, Clause 2; Points a and b Clause 3 and Points b,c and dd Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article;
b) Suspend operation for 06 - 12 months in case of commission of the violation specified in point d Clause 3 of this Article;
c) Expel foreigners committing the administrative violations specified in Clauses 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this Article.
7. Remedial measure:
Enforced return of benefits illegally obtained from the commission of the violation in Clause 1, Clause 2 or Points a and b Clause 3; points b, c and d Clauses 4 and 5 of this Article;”.
Thus, the act of gambling for money of guests will be administratively fined from VND 1,000,000 to VND 2,000,000
At the same time, the owner or the manager of the shop is irresponsible, so that the situation in which customers play cards for money in the shop occurs, he/she will also be fined from VND 5,000,000 to VND 10,000,000.
In addition, the exhibits and means of violation caused by gambling at the water bar will also be confiscated and forced to return the illegal money obtained from gambling at the water bar.
Are shop owners and customers prosecuted for penal liability when playing cards for money at the shop?
Pursuant to Article 321 of the 2015 Criminal Code of Vietnam (amended by Clause 120 Article 1 of the 2017 Law on Amendment to the Criminal Code of Vietnam) as follows:
Illegal gambling
1. A person who illegally gambles in any shape or form with the stakes (in cash or kind) assessed at from VND 5,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000, or under VND 5,000,000 despite the fact that he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof or has an unspent conviction for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof shall be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, face a penalty of up to 03 year's community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment.
2. This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 03 - 07 years' imprisonment:
a) The offence is committed in a professional manner;
b) The stake is assessed at VND ≥ 50,000,000;
c) The offence is committed using the Internet, a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device;
d) Dangerous recidivism.
3. The offender might also be liable to a fine of from VND 10,000,000 to VND 50,000,000.
Thus, if a customer has been administratively penalized for illegally gambling in any shape or form with the stakes (in cash or kind) assessed at from VND 5,000,000 to under VND 50,000,000, or under VND 5,000,000 despite the fact that he/she has incurred an administrative penalty for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof or has an unspent conviction for the same offence or any of the offences specified in Article 322 hereof shall be liable to a fine of from VND 20,000,000 to VND 100,000,000, face a penalty of up to 03 year's community sentence or 06 - 36 months' imprisonment.
This offence committed in any of the following circumstances carries a penalty of 03 - 07 years' imprisonment:
- The offence is committed in a professional manner;
- The stake is assessed at VND ≥ 50,000,000;
- The offence is committed using the Internet, a computer network, telecommunications network or electronic device;
- Dangerous recidivism.
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