Nguyen Van Duong, one of the two masterminds behind the billion-dollar Rikvip gambling scheme, was dismantled by the Ministry of Public Security in 2018. Prior to his criminal activities, Duong served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors at UDIC Company and was involved in the Bac Giang – Lang Son Expressway project. However, the company’s participation was revoked. Duong also founded CNC Company, under the management of Unit C50, Ministry of Public Security, and played a crucial role in connecting with Phan Sao Nam and other individuals. Although Duong did not possess substantial assets to fulfill the nearly 170 trillion VND penalty upon his arrest, the revenue from the online gaming operations amounted to billions of Vietnamese dong, creating a disparity in his wealth.
The wealth of Nguyen Van Duong was not reflected in tangible assets like Phan Sao Nam. Duong had invested in UDIC Company and BOT projects, held savings worth 150 billion VND, and owned apartments on the 5th and 6th floors of Building 61 in Dong Da District. Moreover, during the search of his residence, law enforcement agencies discovered hundreds of expensive bottles of liquor and high-value items. Compared to Phan Sao Nam, Nguyen Van Duong led a much more extravagant lifestyle. However, he primarily invested in assets, and if not apprehended, he could have earned enormous monthly profits from his investments.
Nguyen Van Duong offered money and gifts to two police generals, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoa and Mr. Vinh. He gave a total of 22 billion VND to Mr. Hoa and presented Mr. Vinh with a Rolex watch worth over 1 billion VND, 27 billion VND in cash, 1.75 billion USD in cash, and various amounts ranging from 10,000 to 150,000 USD during festive occasions. Although both police generals denied the allegations, the investigation conducted by authorities provided evidence supporting nguyen van duong Duong’s lavish gifts to these individuals. This demonstrates the wealth of Nguyen Van Duong and his generous behavior towards those involved in unlawful activities.
Despite the evident wealth of Nguyen Van Duong, it has been challenging for law enforcement to collect the funds for his penalty after his arrest and asset seizure. However, there is no evidence of asset dissipation. Upon confiscating his assets, a total of 150 billion VND from savings, 61 billion VND from the house in Dong Da District, 4 luxury cars, and 1 billion VND in bank accounts were listed. Duong’s wife attempted to deposit nearly 400 billion VND for the penalty enforcement, but the total amount owed is nearly 1.7 trillion VND. The reason for the difficulty in collecting the penalty is that Duong’s two primary sources of wealth had been depleted due to other investments, making the execution of the penalty challenging.