The Philippine National Bureau of Investigation arrested seven Korean nationals – they’ve been identified as Jae Hoon Hwang, Yomg Yeom Kim, Sung Hoon Youn, Hyeok Choi, Yong Beom Cho, Jin Dong Kim, and Jun Min Hyeok – for illegal online gambling.
Back in June, the NBI also arrested five Korean nationals for running the exact same gambling ring. Whereas these five are currently facing a multitude of charges, including violation of the Philippines’ Anti-Gambling Law, the seven recently arrested are facing deportation by the Bureau of Immigration on top of the criminal charges that have been levied upon them.
The seven alleged suspects were arrested last August 30 in a condominium unit at the AIC Tower in Pasig City. According to the NBI, their agents were also able to confiscate technological components that were used to run the illegal gambling operation, including computers, laptops, iPads, routers, mobile phones, cable, and hard drives.
The proceedings for deportation have been filed by the Bureau of Immigration where the alleged suspects have been described as “undesirable aliens that have violated the conditions of their stay in the country as tourists”. On top of the deportation lawsuit, they are also facing a slew of criminal charges in the country, particularly their violation of the country’s aforementioned Anti-Gambling Law. Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Ricardo David Jr. made it clear that they will be charged separately for the criminal offense and the deportation proceedings. “Since they have been charged with immigration law violations, they will remain detained until their cases are resolved by the court,” David Jr. said, as quoted by the Inquirer.
Should the criminal charges against them be dropped by the Philippine court or they complete the length of their sentence in the country, deportation would be the next inevitable step.
Apparently, the problem is also present in one of the Philippines’ neighboring countries – Indonesia – after detectives in Jakarta arrested two men for the same crime: operating an illegal online gambling website.
According to The Jakarta Post, Jakarta Police flying squad chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Herry Heryawan identified the suspects as Fran Diko, who goes by the alias “Asen” and Joeng Hock, alias “Apen”, where they were arrested last September 14 in Tambora, West Jakarta.
“The two are charged with Article 303 of the Criminal Code on gambling,” Herry said.
As it turns out, both Asen and Apen operated online soccer gambling websites for over a year and were taking in gamblers where they required them to open accounts on the websites and transfer money to the suspects’ bank accounts before they could begin wagering.
As far as we’re concerned, we’ve made our stance on illegal gambling perfectly clear in the past: we don’t like it because it taints the entire industry as a whole. Do it within the rules, or don’t do it all.
