Philippine police investigators and anti-organized crime agencies have filed non-bailable human trafficking charges against Cassandra Li Ong and 53 others suspected of involvement in the illegal online gambling operations in Bamban, Tarlac Province.
The Criminal Investigation and Detention Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission submitted a joint complaint to the Department of Justice on Tuesday, accusing Ms. Ong and her alleged co-conspirators of engaging in human trafficking activities.
In addition to Ms. Ong, other defendants in the case include:
— Dennis Cunanan, the former deputy director of the Technical Resource Center, who has been dismissed, and
— Zhang Jie from Singapore, reportedly the "big boss" of Lucky South 99 in Bamban,
— other Chinese nationals
It is believed that in August, Zhang helped Ms. Ong and the dismissed president of Bamban, Alice Guo, flee to Indonesia.
Deputy Justice Minister Nicholas Ty stated that the prosecution is also considering adding criminal and civil forfeiture charges to the complaint. These additional charges aim to allow the government to seize assets used in human trafficking.
Apart from the Criminal Investigation and Detention Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, 14 victims are also co-complainants in the case. Ten of them are foreigners, while the rest are Filipinos.
Kidnapping, Contract Labor, Torture
The criminal gang associated with Ms. Ong and Lucky South 99 is accused of kidnapping people unable to repay online gambling debts. They are sold to online gambling companies to settle their debts.
At a press conference, lawyer Ramoncito Ocampo from the Inter-Agency Council Against Trafficking cited the case of a Chinese employee who incurred a gambling debt of 450,000 pesos and was sold to Lucky South 99 after losing his loan money playing Mahjong.
His experience reflects the increasingly severe trend of employees being trapped in forced labor. Prosecutor James Escalona explained that these employees are caught in a trafficking cycle.
Escalona said, "They purchase these victims, and when the victims are close to paying off their balance, they sell them to another online gambling company. Thus, the victims continuously move from one place to another."
In addition to being charged with human trafficking, Ms. Ong is also a defendant in the money laundering charges filed against Alice Guo on August 30.
