Online lending app company in Pasig raided for alleged harassment

Authorities arrested 168 employees of an online lending app for alleged harassment in a raid of its office at Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

According to John Consulta’s Tuesday report on “24 Oras,” authorities caught the employees engaging in their online lending operations, while some were registering new SIM cards under different names.

The operatives also found the mother server and other equipment used for text blasts and collecting loan payments.

“Sa online site namin nasa 15,000 ang complaints. Sa amin pa lang yung. Meron din yung sa NBI at sa PNP. Gumawa kami ng one-stop shop na kasama natin yung NBI, yung PNP. Kasama natin ang SEC para mag cater doon sa mga complaints,” said Gilbert Cruz said, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director.

(We received 15,000 complaints in our online site. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) also received reports. The three agencies, along with the Securities and Exchange Office, created a one-stop shop to cater to the complaints.)

“Kawawa yung mga kababayan natin na nangangailangan, kumakapit sa patalim, uutang sa kanila. Bukod sa napakataas na ng interest, kung makapaningil, mumurahin, tatakutin ang ating mga kababayan. So, nakita namin na meron talagang namumuno na foreigner. Kailangan managot sila sa ginagawa nila,” NBI Director Jaime Santiago said.

(It’s sad that our fellow countrymen who are in need are forced to take desperate measures and borrow money from these lenders. Not only are the interest rates high, but the way they collect payments is also abusive, as they curse and threaten. We found that a foreigner is the head. They need to be held accountable for their actions.)

According to the NBI and PAOCC, the raided online lending company has the most complaints.

Meanwhile, the company’s supervisor denied the harassment allegations.

“We don’t, hundred percent, we don’t directly. We have a policy. We terminate people if there’s an identified case,” the supervisor said.

However, a search of the premises revealed the scripts used by the company and the pleas of their supposed victims.

A former employee reported debtors experienced abuse and harassment from the lending company.

“Pag nangutang ng P1,000, makukuha lang nila P600. Minsan yung P1,000 umaabot ng P5,000,” the former employee said.

(When they borrow P1,000, they only receive P600. Sometimes, P1,000 increased to P5,000.)

Sometimes, the victims were told they are worthless or they should sell their children to pay off their debts.

Authorities confiscated all of the company’s equipment that included computers and cellphones.

The arrested Filipino employees are facing charges of violating the Data Privacy Act, Cybercrime Prevention Act, and Financial Products and Services Consumer Protection Act. — Mariel Celine Serquiña/RF, GMA Integrated News