Nearly 170 fraud suspects from both sides of the Taiwan Strait were arrested in the Philippines on Wednesday, Philippine law enforcement authorities said.
It was the largest single bust of cross-strait telecommunication fraud suspects since Taiwan signed a judicial assistance agreement with the Philippines in April.
Acting on a tip-off from Taiwan’s Investigation Bureau, Philippine law enforcement officers arrested the suspects after raiding a luxury hotel in the Clark Special Economic Zone about 100km north of Manila.
Two Taiwanese officials stationed in the Philippines — one from the Investigation Bureau and the other from the National Immigration Agency — were also present during the raid.
According to an initial count, about 100 of the suspects arrested are Taiwanese nationals, although the exact number is pending further confirmation.
Agents from the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said the fraud ring had leased all the rooms on the second and third floors of one of the hotel’s high-rise buildings.
The ring then refurbished the space into a telecommunications control room. Hotel surveillance monitors were removed by the alleged fraudsters, who also soundproofed the rooms.
NBI agents said they monitored the ring’s activities for several months after being tipped off by their Taiwanese counterparts.
Some of the Philippine investigators checked into the hotel disguised as couples or lovers. However, they had difficulty accessing the floors rented by the ring because its members had instructed hotel management to ban any other guests from entry, NBI officials said.
Evidence collected at the scene shows that the ring members would impersonate bank clerks, judges or prosecutors to tempt or intimidate victims into remitting money into designated bank accounts, the officials said, adding that most of the victims were Chinese nationals.
Also seized in the raid were a large number of computers, telecommunication equipment, lists of victims and reference books on fraud tactics.
The suspects face charges of fraud, illegal use of telecommunication facilities and other related crimes.
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