The successful raid on a suspected Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) hub in Bagac, Bataan has earned praise from the international community following the uncovering of clandestine gambling operations and other illegal activities which were being done in the guise of a business process outsourcing (BPO) firm which actually was into fraud and scamming schemes aside from human trafficking and other crimes.

Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum at Café Adriatico in Malate, Manila, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) executive director Gilbert Cruz, neighboring countries in Southeast Asia and as far as Brazil and the Indian sub-continent have lauded the Philippine government’s aggressive crackdown on illegal POGOs because it has opened possibilities of their own citizens being victimized by the POGO’s criminal activities, particularly gambling, fraud and money laundering.

Undersecretary Cruz mentioned the used of online betting platforms like Winbox, which are banned in many countries but are now being used by POGOs operating in the country.

“(Winbox) is a gambling app, gambling platform na banned sa maraming bansa . . . because it also used for cryptocurrency scamming,” he clarified.

Also spotted in the Bataan PGO raid were rows of computers and cellphones that were used for the gambling operations that handled millions or even billions of pesos worth of bets “at any given week. They are operating a back-end support operation on businesses,” the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) added to support the PAOCC report.

Cruz disclosed that Indonesia authorities particularly praised the PAOCC’s Bataan raid because it bagged some 42 foreign nationals who had been behind the PGO hub’s illegal operations.
The PAOCC chief identified the Indonesian team leader as Handoyo Sulman, 40, who manipulated the hub’s gambling platform and is wanted in his country for fraud, money laundering and crypto-currency scamming activities.

He said he believes that scam hubs are now using BPOs as cover in light of the government’s decision to ban Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) operations in the country.