Philippine operatives swooped down the Freeport Area of Bataan, just north of the country’s capital, and rounded up 55 Chinese nationals involved in illegal proxy betting.
Lawyer Ma. Antonette Bucasas-Mangrobang, spokesperson for the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, confirmed the arrest of the 55 Chinese fugitives, which she said “posed risk to public safety and security.”
The Bureau of Immigration identified 17 of the 55 arrested Chinese fugitives as Chen Liuhui, Lin Qiulong, Lin Qiuhu, Lin Qinghua, Lin Qiuhuang, Zhu Chenhui, Chen Fan, Lin Tingting, Wu Xiongxiong, Lin Haiyan, Zhang Lili; Shen Weibing, Gao Qingshan, Shi Zhibin, Fang Jie, Chen Zhitian and Li Jianfeng.
“They are all considered fugitives since they all have standing arrest warrants for economic crimes. The Chinese government issued the arrest warrants against them,” Mangrobang told CalvinAyre.com. “For our part, we arrested them because they no longer have legal documents to stay in the country after the Chinese government cancelled their passports.”
Days before the arrest of the fugitives, the Chinese government tipped-off Philippine authorities on the illicit proxy betting operation in Bataan. Most of the betting clients were reportedly from South Korea, Taiwan, and mainland China.
The warrants issued by the Chinese government also indicated that the suspects were wanted for cyber fraud.
Mangrobang said the arrests were carried out on Tuesday by virtue of a mission order issued by Philippine Immigration commissioner Jaime Morente. The 55 foreigners were first temporarily held at the Freeport Area of Bataan office before they were transferred to the immigration detention facility at Camp Bagong Diwa, in Taguig City.
Before proceeding with the deportation proceedings, the Bureau of Immigration will check with the Philippines’ National Bureau of Investigation if any of the suspects has an existing criminal case in the country.
If the arrested fugitives have no pending cases in the country, they will be charged with violating immigration rules and will undergo deportation proceedings.
They will be also included in the BI’s blacklist of aliens to prevent their reentry into the Philippines.
