A total of 67 foreigners were among 99 suspects in police custody after a raid of a suspected scam hub in Parañaque City early Thursday morning, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.
In a press briefing, PNP spokesperson Police Colonel Jean Fajardo said authorities implemented a warrant to search, seize and examine computer data in the said establishment at around 2 a.m.
“Ongoing po yung onsite inventory po ngayon but sa initial pong binigay sa ating information ay ang arrested po ay 59 Chinese, 32 Filipino, four Malaysian, two Myanmar, one Indonesian, at one Vietnamese. All in all po ay nasa 99 individuals po yung that were taken into custody,” she said.
(The onsite inventory is ongoing now, but the initial information given to us is that the arrested are 59 Chinese, 32 Filipinos, four Malaysians, two Burmese, one Indonesian, and one Vietnamese. All in all, there are 99 individuals that were taken into custody.)
Fajardo said the operation was conducted after police received information that the establishment was used for cryptocurrency investment and love scams.
According to Fajardo, some Filipino women were used as “models” performing acts bordering on obscenity to entice victims to invest in cryptocurrency.
“So lumalabas po itong mga Filipina po ay (it appears that these Filipinas) they were forced to work as scammers,” Fajardo said.—RF, GMA Integrated News
