Philippines authorities opened on Monday 11 of 27 vaults found on the premises of a raided POGO compound in Tarlac, while also seizing nine villas, 46 cars, five motorcycles, heavy equipment and at least Php5.5 million (US$97,500), local media reports.
The seizures follow last month’s raid of the 10-hectare compound, run by Zun Yuan Technology Inc, which saw 868 POGO workers rescued as part of the operation by PAOCC and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). The raid was conducted in response to two court-issued search warrants for alleged human trafficking and serious illegal detention of the workers, according to the Inquirer.
Executive Director Lucas Bersamin this week ordered the Anti-Money Laundering Council to freeze and preserve the entire compound, the Inquirer also revealed, and to open the 27 vaults discovered on premises. As of late Monday, 11 of the vaults had been opened with the use of grinders, found to contain “documents, several Chinese passports and a few red envelopes.”
It is reported that 499 of those foreign workers rescued were currently being prepared for deportation while eight will be charged with human trafficking and serious illegal detention. Of the eight, five are Chinese nationals, two Vietnamese and one Malaysian.
In a separate story published early Wednesday morning, the Inquirer revealed that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) is now investigating the alleged involvement of some local government unit (LGU) officials over potential links to the POGO in question, including a possible connection between the mayor of Bamban, Tarlac, Alice Guo, and Zun Yuan Technology Inc.
In a statement, Guo defended the investigation into her as being conducted “in good faith on the basis of information that was given to them”, but added, “I deny in the strongest terms all of these allegations of criminal conduct, or at least, allegations that I have somehow aided and abetted the supposedly illegal acts of Zun Yuan Technology.”
Guo said she would not tolerate “heinous crimes like human trafficking, torture and illegal detention.
“I would like to remind everyone that, as Filipinos, our Constitution guarantees that we are all innocent until proven guilty. The point being, I am being unfairly persecuted in the absence of any real investigation and without any court trial. I welcome any investigation carried out by the proper authorities at the proper forum.”
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