The Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) announced that in a raid against illegal Pogo (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), 34 Indonesians and one Chinese citizen were successfully rescued, and the core figure of the telecom fraud gang, a Chinese woman named Liu Meng (transliterated), was arrested.
According to PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio, the commission received a distress message from an Indonesian on February 14th afternoon, and promptly cooperated with the Indonesian Embassy in the Philippines to launch a rescue operation.
That evening, police successfully located and rescued 34 victims in a building in the Baclaran area of Pasay City. It is reported that they were all offshore gaming industry workers, whose contracts had expired on January 21st, and had repeatedly requested to return to Indonesia. However, the gang leader Liu Meng refused to release them and forcibly detained their passports, demanding a "fine" of 50,000 to 100,000 pesos to retrieve their documents.
Some victims also revealed that they were threatened with being sent to Cambodia to continue working in telecom fraud if they did not pay the fees.
In the operation, Liu Meng was arrested on the spot, and police also arrested two unidentified Chinese men and a Malaysian. Currently, 13 victims have decided to file criminal charges against Liu Meng.
Casio pointed out that further investigation revealed that the gang also detained a Chinese citizen, Wang Ye Fu (transliterated), in a safe house in Parañaque City.
Wang Ye Fu was kidnapped in Pasay City on February 12th, just after being released from a detention center in Parañaque City, where he had been held on charges related to another kidnapping case, but was released after the case was concluded. He was deceived by one of the suspects under the guise of providing accommodation, resulting in his imprisonment and severe mistreatment.
"They demanded money from me, and extorted a total of about 2 million pesos from my family and friends," Wang Ye Fu stated during the investigation.
During the arrest operation, police also seized mobile phones containing multiple videos of Wang Ye Fu and other foreigners being tortured, and further investigation of this evidence is currently underway.
Casio emphasized that PAOCC will continue to track down the network behind this fraud gang, ensure that all involved are brought to justice, and strengthen efforts to combat human trafficking and illegal gambling activities.
