The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) has transferred six foreign individuals, arrested from the offshore gaming operator SA Rivendell Global Gaming Incorporated in Pasay, to the Bureau of Immigration (BI) detention facility located at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City on August 25.
The PAOCC identified the six individuals as "high value" suspects, believed to be the brains behind the operation of the gaming platform run by SA Rivendell, which is allegedly involved in fraudulent activities.
The six foreign detainees include five Chinese nationals - Chen Sheng, Zhang Shiyi, Weiqiang Zhan, Chong Liao, Xi Feng - and one Malaysian, Chong Weng Keong.
PAOCC director Winnie Quidato stated, "Usually, they are capable of paying millions to evade capture. In the case of programmers or IT experts, POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operators) companies are willing to pay huge amounts to get them out," thus they ensured their immediate transfer to the BI's custody in Taguig.
During the raid in Pasay, authorities confiscated approximately twenty-eight thousand pre-registered SIM cards with verified e-wallet accounts. The establishment had previously been raided for involvement in an online scam.
Upon digital forensic examination of the SIM cards, it was discovered that the e-wallet accounts registered to these SIM cards contained amounts ranging from one hundred thousand pesos to five hundred thousand pesos. These SIM cards were allegedly used for fraudulent activities or ransom money purposes when kidnappings occurred.
Last week, authorities also confiscated three and a half million pesos in cash, financial documents, mobile phones, tasers, and ammunition from the vaults of the POGO hub in Pasay.
(Photo from the Philippine News Agency)
