MANILA, PHILIPPINES – The Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) welcomes the conviction of 17 Chinese for violating the cybercrime law.
On November 4, 2023, authorities arrested the respondents in a suspected cyber scam den in Iloilo City, Barangay Lawa-an, Jaro District.
READ: 17 Chinese nationals seek plea bargain deal in cybercrime case
Law enforcers conducted the raid on the strength of a search warrant from Iloilo City Regional Trial Court Branch 39 after over a month of surveillance.
As a result, the authorities seized the following paraphernalia:
- 24 computers
- 49 cellular phones
- Two switch hubs TP-link with 24 ports
- Two routers
- One monitor
- One projector
- Four boxes of subscriber identity module (SIM) cards
- One modem
- One bundle
Iloilo City Regional Trial Court Judge Victorino Maniba stated that they violated the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act, the Revised Penal Code and the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
He said the arrested Chinese forced workers to engage in lustful phone conversations and perform lascivious exhibitions of body parts.
They applied for a plea bargain in July.
Nevertheless, the convicts will serve four to eight months in prison and they were ordered to pay ₱75,000 each.
“This will show that we are determined to go after and punish cyber scammers,” CICC Executive Director Alexander Ramos said.
“We shall continue to go after these cyber scammers and we will find them because we have the capability.”
Ramos also thanked the government agencies involved in the successful prosecution of the 17 Chinese.
“The success of this operation in Iloilo City is proof that the Whole-of-Government approach will yield a successful result in ending cybercrime,” he added.