POLICE arrested 69 foreigners in simultaneous raids on three houses in Cebu City yesterday afternoon for their alleged involvement in online fraud.

The suspects, who are from Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China, duped their fellow countrymen, according to Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas.

They had no Filipino victims, as far as the police can tell.

These persons possibly belong to an international syndicate operating in the country since 2011, but began running their illegal business in Cebu City only a few months ago, he said. 

“Their victims are mostly businessmen,” said Lawas, the acting Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 directorial staff chief. “They blackmail them.”

The group’s leader was already identified. 

Five of the foreigners suffered injuries after they tried to escape, including one who jumped from a third-floor window. Three of them were rushed to a hospital. 

The police official said that the suspects called their victims through a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service.

The first caller would make accusations against the victim, then demand an amount in exchange for dropping the case, Lawas said. 

Another cohort also calls the victim and pretends to be a police officer or judge, telling the target that he has received complaints from the first caller.

“They instilled fear in their victim up to the point that the latter would surrender and give in to their demands. In short, this is extortion,” said Lawas. 

Tourist visas

Bureau of Immigration legal officer Ronaldo Deray and alien control officer Casimiro Madarang III assisted the police in inspecting the passports and other documents of the suspects. 

An initial inquiry showed the foreigners are mostly from Taiwan. 

The suspects’ passports state they are tourists and are not allowed to engage in any business while in the Philippines.

“The (police) will file criminal case. The bureau will also look into the violations of immigration laws,” said Madarang.  

He said the foreigners may be deported.

Cebu City Regional Trial Court Branch 10 Judge Soliver Peras authorized the operations by issuing search warrants for alleged violations of Republic Act (RA) 8484 (Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998) and RA 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012).

RA 8484 regulates the issuance of access devices like credit cards.

The law prohibits “the use of a falsified document, false information, fictitious identities and addresses, or any form of false pretense or misrepresentation” in the application of an access device.

Equipment

RA 10175 punishes persons who commit computer-related offenses such as forgery, fraud and identity theft.

Some of the evidence that Peras authorized to be seized were computers, routers, printers, photocopiers, scanners, modems, GSM VOIP gateway machine, network routers, hub, Internet port switches, telephones, cellular phones and digital storage devices like the memory cards and flash drives.

Supt. Rex Derilo, RID officer-in-charge, said the judge issued nine warrants against the suspects. 

Operatives from the PRO 7 units led by the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) left from Camp Sergio Osmeña Sr. at past 1 p.m. 

They reached the houses in Casals Village in Barangay Mabolo, Sunny Hills Subdivision in Barangay Talamban and in Sitio Tigbao, Talamban past 2 p.m.

A certain Chien Chih Lee is named in one of the warrants. The foreigner allegedly lives in a house in Sunny Hills Subdivision.

Tried to go

Lawas said the owners of the houses rented by the suspects did not know what the foreigners where doing, but they will possibly be invited for an inquiry.

Casals Village security guard Elmer Capulso said the house where the suspects stayed belonged to Antonio Ynoc, who reportedly owns a beach resort in a northern Cebu town.

Capulso said he sidelines as a cleaner of the house and he remembers the foreigners rented the property three months ago. 

A female resident said she jogged with some of the foreigners, whom she believes to be in their 20s.

A suspect attempted to evade arrest in Casals Village, but he failed.

Four suspects tried to escape in Sunny Hills. One of them jumped from the third floor and hid in the neighboring house, but he was later caught by the police.

Aside from RID, operatives from the Regional Special Operations Group, Anti-Cybercrime Group Visayas Field Unit, Regional Public Safety Battalion and representatives from Taiwan police also participated in the raids.  

Tracked

Before the arrests were made yesterday, Lawas said they received complaints from the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (Teco) about the suspects, who were located after the Internet protocol (IP) addresses were found in Cebu City.

An initial report stated that 70 persons are members of the syndicate.

Police conducted surveillance for over a month and applied for the search warrants after they confirmed that the suspects operated in seven areas in Cebu City.

“This is cyber-crime. The evidence in the computers must be preserved,” said Lawas.

Madarang said some of the suspects arrived in the country last August and early this month.

The police arrested 18 Taiwanese nationals and eight Chinese nationals in Casals Village, according to Deray. 

He said he has to check the nationalities of the other suspects.

Lawas said they were arrests made in Manila and other parts of Luzon operating with the same modus. 

“They moved to Cebu, possibly thinking they cannot be traced,” he said.