On the evening of December 20, news of Kha Banh “dying in prison” circulated rapidly on social media. Many Facebook accounts claimed that “Banh was beaten for bullying a newcomer, and a 55-year-old man ‘stabbed’ him.” Some even described in detail, “Earlier around 9 PM, I came across a post by a guy named Khanh Pham, who shared news and a photo of Kha ‘Banh’ passing away in the detention center; it looked very grim, so I scrolled back to find the photo to show everyone, this news is 100% true.”
In fact, some people even edited information on Wikipedia about Kha Banh: “Died in detention on December 20, 2020, at the age of 27.”
On the morning of December 21, in a conversation with us, Mr. Tran Viet Tao, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tam Son Ward, Tu Son Town, Bac Ninh Province, stated that “he had not received any information about Kha Banh’s death.”
On the same day, a leader from the Bac Ninh Provincial Police confirmed that the information was inaccurate. Kha Banh is currently serving his prison sentence in Hai Duong. The Hai Duong Provincial Police stated that they had not received any information about the incident.
Kha Banh’s relatives also mentioned that Kha Banh “is currently fine” and that false information is spreading on social media.
Kha Banh’s real name is Ngo Ba Kha, born in 1993. Ngo Ba Kha rose to fame after being released from prison in 2017. Subsequently, he created a YouTube account “Kha Banh,” specializing in stories about the gangster world. With nearly 2 million followers, Kha earns money for each video uploaded. In some months, Kha earned nearly $22,000 (equivalent to about 500 million VND).
Kha is a drug addict, with three previous convictions related to “Intentional Injury” and “Causing Public Disorder.” In March 2019, Kha was administratively fined by the police twice for burning a motorcycle and filming it; standing in a line to take photos on the Hanoi – Hai Phong highway.
From January 10 to April 1, 2019, Kha organized gambling by playing lottery numbers. Daily, players and members of his gambling ring would contact Kha via mobile phone or social media accounts to place bets. All winnings were based on the results of the Northern Lottery on that day. Kha stipulated that all transactions for the day must be completed before 6:15 PM (the lottery result time for the Northern Lottery).
In over 40 days, Kha and his accomplices transacted nearly 5 billion VND from betting. Kha profited nearly 300 million VND.
On April 2, 2019, Kha Banh was arrested by the Bac Ninh Provincial Police for gambling and organizing gambling. Upon testing, Kha tested positive for drugs.
On the morning of November 13, 2019, the Tu Son District Court (Bac Ninh) sentenced defendant Ngo Ba Kha to 4 years in prison for “Gambling,” and 6 years and 6 months for “Organizing Gambling,” totaling a sentence of 10 years and 6 months in prison. In addition to the forfeited amount of nearly 5 billion VND, Ngo Ba Kha was also fined an additional 30 million VND.