NEARLY 200 foreign nationals and Filipinos were arrested during a raid of an alleged Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGO) hub in Makati City on Wednesday night, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) yesterday said.
The 188 suspects included 135 foreign nationals — 85 Chinese, 26 Malaysians, 11 Taiwanese, five Japanese, two Vietnamese, two Indonesians, one Mongolian, one Burmese, one Brazilian and one Kit-titian.
The 53 others were Filipinos, including Dennis Esguerra, an employee of the raided Flying Future Company located on the 21st floor of Yuchengo Tower of the RCBC Plaza, along Ayala Avenue.
Esguerra was arrested on the basis of a warrant of arrest issued by a Makati City court for robbery charges. The court has set a bail of P100,000 for his temporary liberty.
PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said the arrest warrant was served by operatives of the PAOCC, PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, and Makati City police station at around 7 p.m.
“During the execution of the warrant (against Esguerra), operatives observed a significant number of individuals, both foreign nationals and Filipinos, engaged in computer operations resembling those typical of offshore gaming operators,” Cruz said.
He added that “upon inquiry with one of the employees, it was confirmed that Flying Future Company is involved in online gaming services, catering to clients in various countries, including Japan, China, Germany, France, Indonesia, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, Portugal, and others.”
Cruz said the firm’s international gaming operations are not registered with the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation.
“The entire 21st floor is currently undergoing a thorough physical inspection related to online gaming and illegal offshore gaming activities,” he added.
Seized during the operation were text blasters and international mobile subscriber identity-catcher devices, which Cruz said are used in the scamming operations of the firm.
Also seized were scores of computers, cellphones and SIM cards.
PAOCC initially reported that 200 foreign nationals and 100 Filipinos were arrested during the raid. It later clarified that 188 people were arrested, composed of 135 foreigners and 53 Filipinos.
