The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) raided an illegal online raffle site hosted by Facebook. This led to the arrest of 16 individuals by members of the Philippine National Police-Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) on Wednesday, May 1.
The suspects were behind the Lucky Dream 4 FB page. They held an office inside a subdivision in Biñan, Laguna, where they were caught livestreaming their 50th unauthorized raffle event, PAGCOR said.
PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro H. Tengco said the arrest was part of the state gaming agency’s commitment to intensify the fight against illegal online gambling through strengthened collaboration with law enforcement agencies.
“We have been receiving reports of illegal online activities including those in social media platforms. As the country’s gaming regulator, it is our duty to protect the public—especially the youth—from these illegal online gambling sites,” Tengco said.
Lucky Dream 4, which has 111,000 followers on Facebook, has been conducting live online raffle games and offering second-hand modified motorcycles as prizes, according to PAGCOR senior vice president Raul Villanueva.
“The Lucky Dream 4 group has been operating for a time now. In one raffle, they can collect up to Php1.8 million,” Villanueva said. The group reportedly sells an average of 40,000 to 50,000 tickets priced at P40.00 each.
“They have amassed over Php8 million from the time they started this illegal online operation because in one draw, they can sell as many as 50 [thousand] tickets,” added Villanueva, also the head of the PAGCOR Security Group.
Members of the Lucky Dream 4 were mostly young with the eldest just 27 years old. Villanueva said the group has been apprehended because they have no license to operate an online gaming platform. “We advise those who are involved in similar activities to think again,” he noted.
“Register your online gaming operations with PAGCOR instead. There will be consequences if you continue to operate illegally because PAGCOR is constantly in touch with law enforcement agencies to ensure that these activities do not proliferate,” Villanueva underscored.
In its recent Facebook posts, the group represented by a woman named Kesia Francisco gave an update to their followers, who already placed bets for the raffle that was disrupted. She said Lucky Dream 4 has been coordinating with law enforcement authorities to address the issue.
As far as the members of the group were concerned, they were operating legally because they had secured permits with the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
Francisco said the group is waiting at present for their arrested members to be released from detention at a Quezon City Police District jail, so they can properly defend themselves before a trial court.
“Don’t worry safe po lahat (everything is safe), we’re abiding with the legal process and kakasuhan din po namin ‘yung (and we are also going to file a case against the) private complainant for the damage that has been done on our side po,” Francisco wrote in one of the page’s status updates.