A Pasay City regional trial court will arraign today, August 23, the 29 foreigners arrested last August 1 during a raid of a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) facility in Pasay City on charges of violating Republic Act No. 8799, the Securities Regulations Code.
Lawyer Gloria Quintos, counsel for the 29 accused, said her client-foreigners will be asked by the Pasay City RTC, Branch 111, to plead guilty or not guilty to charges of violations of Section 28.1 of RA 8799.
Section 28.1 of the law provides that “no person shall engage in the business of buying or selling securities in the Philippines as a broker or dealer, or act as a salesman, or an associated person of any broker or dealer unless registered as such with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Quintos said her 29 clients are Indian, Malaysian, and Chinese nationals.
Besides violations of RA 8799, Quintos said her clients, together with 85 Filipinos, have also been charged before the Department of Justice with cybercrime-related fraud. The charges have yet to be resolved.
According to the lawyer, her clients, in their counter-affidavits, said: “They said and denied that there is any truth on the accusations against them that they are involved in cybercrime-related fraud.”
“At the same time, they said they did not own the computers that were seized and believed used in the scams. Those belong to the company,” she said.
The 114 foreigners and Filipinos were among those arrested and rescued during a raid at Rivendell Global Support, Inc. located at SJ Mobile Building in Pasay City.
DOJ Undersecretary Nicholas Felix L. Ty had said that the POGO was found engaged in cybercrime-related frauds.
However, Quintos said that Rivendell has a valid license to operate as a POGO that was issued by the Philippine Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR).