On the evening of December 20, news that Khá Bảnh had “died in prison” spread rapidly across social media. Many Facebook accounts claimed “Bảnh was beaten for bullying newcomers, attacked by a 55-year-old inmate.” Some even described details, saying, “Around 9 PM, I saw a post by a guy named Khanh Pham sharing news and photos of Khá ‘Bảnh’ passing away in the detention center. He looked seriously injured. Let me find the photos again for everyone to see. This news is 100% true.”
Some people even edited Khá Bảnh’s Wikipedia page to say: “Died in detention on December 20, 2020, at age 27.”
On the morning of December 21, we spoke with Mr. Trần Viết Tạo, Chairman of Tam Sơn Commune People’s Committee, Từ Sơn Town, Bắc Ninh Province, who said, “We have not received any information about Khá Bảnh’s death.”
That same day, a leader from Bắc Ninh Police confirmed the information was false. Khá Bảnh is still serving his prison sentence in Hải Dương. Officials from Hải Dương Police also said they have not received any reports about the incident.
Khá Bảnh’s family members also confirmed that he is “fine” and that the death rumors circulating on social media are false.
Khá Bảnh’s real name is Ngô Bá Khá, born in 1993. He rose to fame after being released from prison in 2017. Afterwards, he created a YouTube channel called “Khá Bảnh,” where he shared stories from the underworld. With nearly 2 million followers, Khá earned money from each video he posted. Some months, he made close to $22,000 (about 500 million VND).
Khá has a history of drug addiction and three prior convictions for “Intentional Infliction of Injury” and “Disturbing Public Order.” In March 2019, he was twice fined by police for setting motorcycles on fire while filming videos and for lining up to take photos on the Hanoi-Hai Phong highway.
From January 10 to April 1, 2019, Khá ran a gambling operation involving lottery numbers. Daily players and members of his network contacted him via phone or social media to place bets. Payouts were based on the Northern Vietnam lottery results each day. Khá set a cutoff time of 6:15 PM for all transactions (before the lottery draw).
Over 40 days, Khá and his associates handled nearly 5 billion VND in bets, with Khá profiting about 300 million VND.
On April 2, 2019, Bắc Ninh police arrested Khá Bảnh for gambling and organizing gambling. Tests showed he tested positive for drugs.
On November 13, 2019, the Từ Sơn Town People’s Court sentenced Ngô Bá Khá to 4 years for “Gambling” and 6 years 6 months for “Organizing Gambling,” totaling 10 years 6 months in prison. Besides confiscating nearly 5 billion VND, he was fined an additional 30 million VND.
