Philippine law enforcement agencies recently raided an office building in the Bay Area of Parañaque City, successfully arresting 453 individuals suspected of engaging in illegal offshore gambling (POGO) and fraud activities, including 146 foreign nationals, predominantly Chinese citizens.
This joint law enforcement operation was conducted by the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Bureau of Immigration (BI), the Department of Justice Office of Cybercrime (DOJ OOC), and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), targeting a long-surveilled Chinese suspect with an arrest warrant, and taking action against other involved foreign nationals based on immigration laws.
During the raid, law enforcement officers found that employees in the multi-story building were operating computers, suspected of committing fraud and illegal gambling.
Preliminary investigations revealed that different floors were involved in various types of fraud tactics, such as stock investment scams, online gambling fraud, etc., with some scams even using Hong Kong numbers to send messages specifically targeting Indian victims. A large number of computers, laptops, smartphones, pre-registered SIM cards, and fraud scripts were seized at the scene, all of which will undergo digital forensic analysis.
It is reported that the POGO company had previously been shut down by authorities, but later re-registered under a new name and obtained a mayor's permit, business license, and village committee permission. PAOCC official Gilbert Cruz stated that whether the relevant institutions conducted strict scrutiny when issuing licenses is still under investigation.
Currently, the arrested foreign nationals have been sent to the PAOCC detention center in Pasay City, where the Bureau of Immigration will verify their identities and complete biometric procedures. The involved Filipino citizens face further questioning and investigation.
