GATHERING EVIDENCE Personnel of the PAOCC and the CIDG inspect one of the 36 buildings inside the sprawling 10-hectare compound in Bamban, Tarlac, where the Pogo Zun Yuan Technology Inc. operates. JUN A. MALIG
MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — Authorities retrieved more than P5.5 million cash and P25,200 worth of foreign currencies from 11 vaults forcibly opened in several buildings of a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Bamban, Tarlac, on Monday and Tuesday.
Winston Casio, spokesperson for the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), said 16 more vaults inside the 10-hectare compound occupied by Zun Yuan Technology Inc. (ZYTI) had yet to be opened by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and representatives from different national government agencies.
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Malolos City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 81 Judge Hermenegildo Dumlao II earlier ordered the opening of the 27 money vaults of ZYTI at Baofu Compound in Barangay Anupul, Bamban.
The money recovered from the initial 11 vaults included P5,597,360 in cash, US$444, HK$20 and 20,000 Vietnamese dong, Casio said in a Viber message.
Chinese passports
Also found inside the vaults were three Chinese passports, documents that included alien registration certificates, eight boxes and a bag of jewelry, identification cards, a car key and car insurance certificates, among others.
The opening of the 16 remaining vaults located in different rooms of the 36 multistory buildings of ZYTI will resume on Thursday, Casio said.
Authorities led by PAOCC and the CIDG raided the ZYTI premises on March 13 after a local court issued two search warrants for alleged human trafficking and serious illegal detention against the Chinese Pogo company, which was among the 105 foreign “service providers” with accreditation from the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.
READ: DILG probes Tarlac town execs’ ties to illegal Pogo operation
Fugitives
Authorities rounded up and detained 868 workers, which included 371 Filipinos, 427 Chinese, 57 Vietnamese, eight Malaysians, three Taiwanese, two Indonesians and two Rwandans.
Malacañang ordered on Monday the summary deportation of the 499 foreign employees.
Eight of the foreigners charged with human trafficking and illegal detention in the Malolos City RTC on March 15 are not covered by the deportation order.
Casio identified them as Wang Weili, Wuli Dong, Nung Ding Chang, Lang Xu Po and Shang Shi Cong, all Chinese; Walter Wong Long, a Malaysian; and Ma The Phong and Huang Yue Hai, both Vietnamese. A Filipino identified as Maybeline Millo was also charged with the same offense.
Six of the detained Chinese Pogo workers were found to be fugitives with pending criminal cases in China, Casio said.