MANILA – The administrative relief of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Maj. Gen. Sidney Hernia and Philippine National Police-Anti Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) chief Maj. Gen. Ronnie Francis Cariaga in relation to the recent raid of an alleged scam hub in Manila has been extended.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo, in a press briefing at Camp Crame, Quezon City on Thursday, said their relief will be in effect until November 22, five days after the initial 10-day order which was supposed to end November 17.
“The only reason for their relief is again, being the highest commanders ng (of) units involved, particularly PNP-ACG and NCRPO, the PNP leadership (decided) to put them under administrative relief. The investigation is not yet done and so the PNP leadership deemed it necessary to extend their administrative relief,” she added.
The committee in charge of the investigation into the matter is led by Lt. Get. Michael John Dubria, deputy chief for operations.
Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Tamondong and Col. Vina Guzman would remain as officers in charge of the NCRPO and ACG, respectively.
Fajardo said some issues were raised over the October 29 operation conducted by the NCRPO and the ACG at the Century Peak Tower.
These include allegations of extortion and the reported tampering of the security camera by PNP officers.
Reports said three PNP-ACG agents moved and covered the closed-circuit television camera in a hallway to prevent them from being seen while walking shirtless due to the extreme heat inside the building.
The building’s elevator and air conditioning systems were intentionally turned off, forcing the raiding team to walk up the 23rd floor, where the purported Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) hub is located.
She said that administrative relief would give way to the investigation to clear issues.
“Hopefully by tomorrow (Friday), we have initial findings but let us wait for the results of the investigation to be completed,” Fajardo said.
Fajardo also said the forensic examination on the seized gadgets and other IT (information technology)-related items is underway.
“I was informed that the investigators saw pieces of evidence of alleged scamming activities, including cryptocurrencies, which is really the subject of the cyber warrants against the company, particularly the Vertex Technologies on the 23rd floor of the Century Peak Tower. It is engaged in love and cryptocurrency scam which is a clear violation of the securities regulation code,” Fajardo explained.
More evidence in Bataan raid
In a related development, Fajardo said police seized P112.5 million in cash and foreign passports in the safety vaults of Central One Bataan, the business process outsourcing company (BPO) raided on October 31.
Fajardo said officers opened 12 safety vaults at Central One’s offices in Bagac, Bataan on Wednesday under a new search warrant.
Fajardo also reported that operatives seized foreign passports, security tokens, vouchers and assorted documents from the BPO company’s offices.
The PNP did not provide a breakdown of the documents seized, the nationalities of the foreign passports confiscated and the foreign currencies found.
Central One legal counsel Cherry Anne dela Cruz, however, said the money in the vaults was for salaries and dismissed the PNP’s remarks as “baseless speculations.”
“Money per se is not illegal and same with expired passports,” Dela Cruz said in a statement.
Fajardo it is better for the company to “face the allegations in court, instead of the court of public opinion.”
Authorities said the facility also ran love scams, cyberscams and online gambling operations.
The complex had a functioning dormitory as well as six buildings housing separate sub-operations. (PNA)