Blacklisted Korean among nabbed in alleged Pasay POGO

The Bureau of Immigration revealed on Tuesday that one of the six Koreans arrested for allegedly operating an illegal offshore gaming platform and scam hub in a hotel basement in Pasay City is a blacklisted alien.

“2023 pa yung Blacklist Order nya. Pero pag mga ganyan kasi, nagtatago na yan,” BI Fugitive Search Unit Chief Rendel Ryan Sy told GMA Integrated News.

Sy added that the said Korean national had been overstaying in the Philippines without the necessary visa and should have been long deported.

Another arrested Korean national presented a valid 9G or a pre-arranged employment visa.

However, upon verification, the 9G visa was issued for another company. 

One is on a lapsed tourist visa. The rest are holders of different resident visas.

While valid, the resident visas do not exclude them from facing violations of the Philippine Immigration Act.

“Kahit anong visang hawak nila dito, kahit may resident visa sila, given na nahuli natin na may ginagawa silang violation dito. Maari pong marevoke yung kanilang visa at madeport silang violation,” Sy said.

The arrested will face immigration inquest for immigration violations.

This is aside from the possible criminal charges they may face following the investigation of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission and the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

PAOCC and the PNP-CIDG have filed their application for a warrant to search and examine data from computers and gadgets recovered from the raid.

This includes hundreds of OTP or One Time Password generators and USBs believed to be cold storage for cryptocurrency wallets.

“Talagang cryptocurrency ang hinihingi sa mga clients nila. So pag nakuha nila yung seed phrases mo, lahat ng laman ng crypto wallet mo pwede nilang kunin anytime,” a PAOCC agent told reporters.

PAOCC will also include in its investigation the management of the hotel where the “Korean POGO” was operating.

“Bakit sila nakapag-operate doon?,” PAOCC Executive Director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz asked.

Should the hotel refuse to cooperate, Cruz said that the PAOCC can file criminal charges.

“We will recommend for the closure of the hotel. yung sa management, kung kailangan file-an sila ng kaso. We will be filing cases,” Cruz added.

Cruz also said that hotels and other hospitality establishments should be vigilant when accepting patrons.

“This will serve as a warning also to other hotels. They should look into sa mga umuupa sa kanila. Kasi they cannot just say na nagulat na lang kami na ganito pala yung ginagawa nila,” Cruz said.—LDF, GMA Integrated News