Philippine gaming regulator PAGCOR announced Thursday the details of multiple arrests in relation to a series of gambling scams and illegal gambling activity.
The arrests included 16 people detained at an office complex in Biñan, Laguna for running an illegal online raffle on facebook. According to details, the suspects were caught while live streaming their 50th raffle on the facebook page Lucky Dream 4, having been tracked down by way of a joint operation between PAGCOR and the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG).
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said the arrest was part of the state gaming agency’s commitment to intensify the fight against illegal online gambling through strengthened collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
“We have been receiving reports of illegal online activities including those in social media platforms,” he said. “As the country’s gaming regulator, it is our duty to protect the public – especially the youth – from these illegal online gambling sites.
Lucky Dream 4 is reported to have had 111,000 followers and had been conducting live online raffle games and offering second-hand modified motorcycles as prizes. Tickets were sold for as little as Php40 but each raffle was selling between 50,000 and 40,000 tickets, collecting a total of Php1.8 million (US$31,330) per raffle.
In a separate release, PAGCOR said it has arrested 10 Chinese nationals in an operation against online scams in Parañaque City. The group is said to have been in violation of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, Alien Registration Act and Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175).
According to PAGCOR Senior Vice President for Security Cluster Raul Villanueva, the arrested included seven male and three female Chinese nationals believed to have been part of a group that managed to escape from an earlier raid on a large gaming compound in Bamban, Tarlac last March.
Nine Filipino female workers were also rescued, while one Filipino male serving as a bodyguard was arrested for possession of an undocumented gun.
The raiders also confiscated around 75 mobile phones, 30 desktop computers, 50 laptops, assorted credit cards, two cars and one motorcycle along with assorted Chinese government documents, PAGCOR said.
Police added that the Chinese suspects were engaged in activities such as love and cryptocurrency scams similar to the illegal activities in the Tarlac compound.
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