DAVAO CITY, Philippines—Seventy-eight Taiwanese arrested here on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in large-scale fraud using the Internet and telephone could not be criminally charged under Philippine laws even if the extortion activities were committed here, the local police chief said.
“They have not violated (any Philippine laws) and probably they will just be deported,” Senior Supt. Ronald Dela Rosa, Davao City police director, said.
Dela Rosa said the Taiwanese will be tried in Taiwan for defrauding many victims “most of them the elderly and the retirees” of “millions of dollars.”
“They are an international financial fraud syndicate but their victims were mainly Taiwanese and not Filipinos,” Dela Rosa said.
He said investigation showed the group conducted their operations here, using rented houses in such upscale subdivisions as Ladislawa Village.
Dela Rosa said from their base here, the Taiwanese would call potential victims in Taiwan, telling them that they failed to pay certain debts.
If a victim refused to heed the demand, the group would then threaten with being reported to the police.
Other members of the same syndicate would then call the victims and pretend to be from the police. The victims would then be ordered to pay their supposed debts through bank transfers.
“The group conducted their operation discreetly for the past two months,” Dela Rosa said.
He said the police raids conducted in different parts of the city which resulted in the arrest of the suspects were conducted on the behest of authorities in Taipei.
Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said the Taiwanese government believed that the group was not only involved in extortion but also in kidnapping.
Dela Rosa said they are also investigating some Chinese nationals living in the city for complicity.
“They may have helped the group set up its operation here,”he said.
The 78 Taiwanese are now being held at the Davao City Police Office pending deportation procedures.