THE Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) yesterday filed a serious illegal detention case before the Department of Justice (DOJ) against eight Chinese nationals in connection with their involvement in the operation of the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bamban, Tarlac that was raided by authorities early this year.
PNP-CIDG chief Brig. Gen. Nicolas Torre III said the private complainants in the case are two Chinese nationals whom the respondents supposedly held against their will.
“All of them are personnel and they are holding positions that actually requires them to take control of these victims. We included them for serious illegal detention kasi meron tayong mga complainants na naging biktima nila. So ngayong hapon natin nakumpleto ang mga papeles at ngayon natin nai-file sa DOJ (We included them for serious illegal detention because we have complainant-victims here. We only managed to complete the documents this afternoon that is why it was only today that we filed it at the DOJ),” Torre told reporters after filing the case on Wednesday afternoon.
“They were held against their will. They were made to work against their will. Gusto nila umuwi, gusto nila umayaw pero sila ay hindi pinapayagan umalis (They wanted to go home, they refused to work, but they were not allowed to go home),” he also said referring to the complainants.
Torre said the victims are under the custody of the PNP-CIDG to ensure their safety, adding that the respondents are likewise under their custody.
“They were held in other cases that were filed before. So, ito additional cases lang (These are just additional cases),” he said.
Meanwhile, operatives of the National Bureau of Investigation arrested Tuesday evening 17 Chinese nationals for alleged involvement in scamming operations.
Another Chinese national was later apprehended for trying to bribe NBI agents to free his colleagues.
NBI Director Jaime Santiago identified the arrested foreigners as Zhao Jianjun, Huang Cheng Chi, Huang Bi Ying, Li Hui Juan, Lengxin Yu, Liu Xing Rong, Chen Zihao, Zhou You Liang, Chen Xing, Chen Qing Gang, Huang Zhixon, Riu Chen, Mao Jing Hang, Liu Xuan Wu, Wang Wen Bin, Yan Xiao Hong, and Yang.
He said that while transporting the arrested Chinese to the NBI main headquarters in Quezon City, one of them tried to bribe the operatives by offering P300,000 for each detainee’s release, or a total of P5 million for all the 17 foreigners
Santiago said the NBI operatives played along. Another Chinese national then arrived and handed a backpack with an amount of P1.5 million which is intended as a payment for the release of the first batch of the arrested suspects.
After confirming that the bag contained the bribe money, the NBI operatives arrested the Chinese individual identified as Hou Jusen, whose fake postal ID contained the name Jason Ponte Hao.
Santiago said the operation that led to the arrest of the Chinese stemmed from information they received that at least four condominium units in Casiana Residences in Parañaque City were being utilized as a scam hub by a syndicate composed of foreign nationals.
Santiago said surveillance operations conducted revealed that the units contained multiple workstations engaged in various fraudulent activities, including theft of bank account information, fraudulent investment schemes, cryptocurrency scams, and illegal gambling operations.
Armed with a warrant to search, seize, and examine computer data issued by Parañaque RTC Branch 258, the NBI operatives proceeded to search the target building where they found the 17 Chinese nationals.
Santiago said they were caught “actively engaged with their desktop computers, wherein various scripts and communication flows indicative of a sophisticated scam and other fraudulent operations, were found.”
Further onsite examinations of the devices uncovered a scheme that employed social engineering tactics to exploit victims, Santiago said.
The NBI chief said the Chinese nationals made initial contacts with their victims via platforms such as WhatsApp or Telegram, posing as representatives of legitimate businesses or acquaintances.
He said that by establishing rapport and appealing to the victims’ emotions, they lured them into making investments in cryptocurrency through deceptive “mining’ or “farming” schemes.
Additionally, Santiago said the Chinese nationals were also found using manipulated gambling sites designed to ensure the users’ consistent losses.
Charges for violation of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, falsification of documents, corruption of public officials and of the Anti-Alias Law are being readied for filing against the arrested Chinese.
Santiago said they would use as witness two Filipino who accompanied the Chinese who were arrested for bringing the bribe money.
“Yung dalawa isang Filipino at isang babae ay parang gagawin namin state witness. Pero ‘yung lalaki na Chinese na nagdala ng pera at nagta-try magbribe sa ating mga ahente ay kakasuhan naming (Ww will use as state witnesses the two Filipinos, including a woman. The Chinese who brought the bribe money and offered it to our agents will also be charged),” he said.
