By Benjamin Pulta
MANILA – Charges of qualified human trafficking were filed by the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) against 20 foreign nationals apprehended in the Feb. 20 raid of a scam hub in Parañaque City.
PAOCC Executive Director Gilbert Cruz said the raided Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub at the ATI building, in front of the Parañaque Integrated Terminal Exchange (PITX), ran investment and love scams using foreign nationals.
A total of 435 POGO workers, including 148 foreign nationals, were arrested at the Chinese-run hub.
“We conducted the inquest for the foreign nationals operating the POGO hub here at PITX and we have filed charges against 20 of them,” Cruz said in an interview.
“Qualified trafficking, because you can clearly see that they facilitated the employment of individuals in this POGO hub to work here for a long time.”
Cruz said the scam hub also had several other violations, including the lack of the necessary permits to operate.
Among the complainants were three Vietnamese women.
“These Vietnamese women were the models they used to attract investors and then after you fall in love, that’s it, they will invite you to invest in cryptocurrency,” Cruz said.
PAOCC Director and spokesperson Winston Casio earlier said the agency is also eyeing the filing of criminal cases against the owner of the building, as well as the forfeiture of the whole building allegedly used by the Dan Ying Gaming Corp. where the POGO workers have been operating for two years.
Casio said the Dan Ying Gaming Corp. is allegedly owned by a “well-known” Filipino-Chinese businessman. (PNA)
