They are among 145 Vietnamese nationals, including government officials, businesspeople, doctors and singers, who collectively gambled away US$106 million at the casino.
Vietnamese are prohibited from gambling except at certain casinos under an ongoing pilot program. Anh and Dong, both 47, are among nine of them with “signs of mental illness,” according to prosecutors.
Le Van Dong (L) and Nguyen Mai Anh. Photo by Ngoc Bich
Anh gambled under the identity “MRS ROSE” during 67 sessions at King Club in between February and June last year, playing slots and roulette, according to data from club analyzed by the police. She lost nearly $395,000.
Her husband, using the name “MR BANK”, played 33 times during the period, losing $85,100.
The couple for years have been under mandatory mental health treatment at the Central Forensic Psychiatry Institute in Hanoi.
The police in April this year requested the institute to evaluate Anh and Dong’s cognitive and behavioral control capabilities before, during, and after their gambling activities.
As the evaluation results are pending, the police have separated their actions for later review and handling.
The couple are also involved in another separate case, in which they are accused of manipulating the psychiatry institute to provide fake mental health evaluations.
While undergoing mandatory treatment, they allegedly bribed institute leaders and staff to secure private rooms and freedom to leave the facility.
Their room was equipped with air conditioning and audio equipment for parties and drug use.
During their mandatory treatment, the couple frequently left the institute, even going on vacations and inviting entire departments of the institute to join them.
After establishing trust, they brokered deals with the institute’s leadership to secure mental health evaluation conclusions for other suspects.
She and her husband received “billions of Vietnamese dong” for these evaluations, and sent “hundreds of millions” to the institute’s director Tran Van Truong as bribery.
As a result, many individuals with no mental health issues received diagnoses of mental illness to qualify for mandatory treatment, evading criminal responsibility.
In this case, Hanoi police have prosecuted 36 leaders and staff of the Central Forensic Psychiatry Institute, including Truong.