A study entitled Risky Business, researched by the Swinburne University of Australia, has found that record numbers of Vietnamese women are being jailed due to crime activity based on gambling debts. The women owe massive amounts to the Crown Casino and turn to drug crime to try and pay off the debts. In the study, it was found that the women owe from $30,000 to $1 million after being given loans for gaming by other Vietnamese gamblers at the casino’s gaming tables.

The women were not able to pay back the massive amount of cash spent at the baccarat, poker and blackjack tables, so they turned to crime. The women were offered the opportunity import heroin as a drug mule or sit at a marijuana grow house. It has been concluded that over a third of those who are banned from the casino by police are of the Vietnamese culture, many convicted of drug offenses and money laundering.

The study was conducted by Roslyn Le of the Swinburne University and she found that almost every woman of Vietnamese descent who was serving time in a Victorian prison was in jail on a drug offence. The women were asked to pay 10% in interest on the loans they acquired to pay off the gambling debt. Many of the women started gambling to pay off debts owed by their spouse.

Dr. Le found that the due to the cultural gender inequality, the women were expected to pay their husbands debt, which led to jail time after the criminal activity was conducted. Dr. Le also discovered that this was the first time most of the women had committed criminal any activity.