CEBU CITY — The National Bureau of Investigation-Central Visayas (NBI-7) is intensifying efforts to locate three Indonesians whose passports were found inside a vault at the Tourist Garden Hotel in Barangay Agus, Lapu-Lapu City.
The hotel was recently identified as a suspected hub for illegal Philippine offshore gaming operation (POGO) activities, following a raid on August 31.
NBI-7 director Rennan Augustus Oliva has requested assistance from the Bureau of Immigration and the Indonesian Embassy to verify the identities and status of the three Indonesians.
Their passports were recovered from one of three vaults forcibly opened on September 16. However, none of the passport holders were among the 162 foreigners rescued during the entrapment operation.
Oliva's team is investigating whether these individuals are still in Cebu, raising concerns about their potential involvement in the POGO operation.
The rescued foreigners had previously revealed that their POGO employers confiscated their passports upon arrival in the Philippines, demanding $2,000 to return their documents.
NBI-7 is now considering whether the missing Indonesians might have experienced similar exploitation.
In addition to the passports, NBI-7 operatives uncovered 241 mobile phones in another vault, further raising suspicions about the extent of the illegal activities.
Special investigator Atty. Wenceslao Galendez said that these devices are believed to contain critical data related to financial transactions, including proceeds from online scams and other illicit operations.
The mobile phones are suspected of being used for "layering," a method commonly used in money laundering where funds are transferred between multiple accounts to conceal their origins.
NBI-7 is currently awaiting a court warrant to unlock the phones and access the information, which could lead to additional charges, including human trafficking and money laundering.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Internal Revenue is also investigating the tax compliance of companies connected to the POGO hub. Isaac Darcera III from the BIR legal division is reviewing whether local dummies were used as fronts for the actual operators of the illegal enterprise.
Authorities are focusing on potential tax violations that could further implicate the POGO hub operators.
As the investigation progresses, NBI-7 remains committed to tracking down the missing Indonesians and uncovering the full scope of the illegal operations linked to the POGO hub.