Fugitive nabbed in Benguet linked to fraud in China
PAOCC says foreigner, who had Cambodian papers but turned out to be Chinese, also involved in ‘scam farms,’ including raided Pogo hub in Porac, Pampanga
2024.7.31
MABALACAT CITY, PAMPANGA, Philippines — The Chinese man arrested in a house in Tuba, Benguet, on July 27 had defrauded his victims in China of 7.09 billion yuan (P57.3 billion) before escaping to the Philippines, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) disclosed on Tuesday.
Agents of the Bureau of Immigration’s (BI) intelligence division and PAOCC operatives conducted a joint operation at a house located at Block 23, Lot 37 inside Pinewoods Subdivision in Tuba, and arrested Chinese woman Wang Keping, 35, and supposed Cambodian national Khuon Moeurn, 37, an undocumented alien.
However, on Monday afternoon, PAOCC executive director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz disclosed that Moeurn is actually Sun Liming, a Chinese fugitive, using fake Cambodian documents.
Wang and Sun were found in the house owned by a corporation that former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said he had an interest in.
In a separate statement on Tuesday, Cruz said the Chinese government, through the Shenzhen police, had frozen the about 64.9 million yuan (P525 million) account of Liming.com, “the financial platform of Sun and his cohorts where they ask their victims to deposit their investments.”
“Mr. Sun escaped to the Philippines and has reinvented himself as Mr. Khuon Moeurn, a Cambodian national. He has been identified as a financier and operator of several scam farms in the country, one of which is the raided Porac scam hub,” Cruz said.
Cruz said Liming.com’s 64.9 million yuan account was just a small fraction of the proceeds of its scam.
“By the time that the massive fraud was discovered on July 17, 2023, their scam had already defrauded their victims to the amount of 7.09 billion yuan,” he said.
Cruz said Sun and his cohorts were able to dupe their victims into believing that their company had multiple contracts with the Chinese government.
Deportation
He said Sun had been formally charged by the BI for violation of immigration laws and declared an undesirable alien.
“Likewise, the Chinese Embassy has formally requested that he be transported back to China once they formally present his warrant of arrest for large-scale fraud in their country. At present, he is in the physical custody of the PAOCC,” Cruz added.
The BI, in a statement on Sunday, said that the July 27 operation stemmed from information that a Chinese woman being sought by the PAOCC for her involvement with Zun Yuan Technology, a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Bamban, Tarlac, might be hiding in the house in Benguet.
The PAOCC said the BI mission order was issued against Wan Yun, alias Yun Wan, who was allegedly found to be an illegal entrant in the Philippines. Only Wang and Sun, however, were found in the house.
Wang, who had a valid working visa, “may be charged with violation of immigration laws for harboring an illegal alien,” the BI said.
In the latest Senate committee hearing on Pogos on Monday, Roque admitted that he partly owned the house where the BI mission order was served in the upscale 220-hectare Pinewoods Golf and Country Estate in Tuba.
He said he used to live in the house that belongs to PH2 Corp., which is, in turn, owned by Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc., where he is a shareholder.
“In fact, in the near future, I am concluding a transaction for me to take over the entire corporation that owns the house,” he said in the Senate hearing.
Roque said the house was being rented by a Chinese named Wan Yun, who had presented a valid working visa when she entered into a rental agreement with PH2 Corp.
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Roque admits to partly own ‘raided’ house in Benguet
The former Duterte spokesperson insists the gov’t operation is part of ‘plot’ to link him to illegal Pogo
2024.7.30
MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday admitted that he partly owns the house inside an upscale subdivision in Tuba town, Benguet province, that authorities “raided” on Saturday for allegedly being used by foreigners linked to the illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Bamban town of Tarlac.
“I used to live in that house when I left the government and I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it,” Roque said at the resumption of the Senate hearing on Pogo-related crimes.
“In fact, in the near future, I am concluding a transaction for me to take over the entire corporation that owns that house,” he said. “I do not deny that I have an interest in that corporation.”
Replying to a question by Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, the former Palace official said the house in the posh Pinewoods Golf and Country Club in Tuba belonged to PH2 Corp., which, in turn, was owned primarily by Biancham Holdings and Trading Inc.
Roque, who previously served as former President Rodrigo Duterte’s mouthpiece, said that he and his wife, Mylah, were both shareholders of Biancham.
Sen. Risa Hontiveros, who has been leading the Senate inquiry, presented a copy of Biancham’s certificate of registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing that Roque’s former executive assistant, Alberto Rodulfo dela Serna, was also included as a stockholder.
Likewise named as among Biancham’s shareholders was Inquirer columnist Joel Butuyan, Roque’s former law firm partner.
Rented out
According to Roque, the house was being rented since January by a certain Wan Yun, a Chinese national who had submitted a working visa in entering into a lease contract with PH2.
“[That means] she has the right to be in the Philippines,” he said.
Wan, he added, was actually the “partner” of Khuon Moeurn, who was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Immigration and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission along with a female Chinese national named Wang Keping during the government operation on Saturday.
Roque then claimed that the operation was part of a supposed plot to “link” him to the operation of illegal Pogo entities.
“I really want to see the evidence showing that that man (Moeurn) was involved in the Pogo in Bamban. Because if there’s none, there’s really a concerted effort to link me to Pogos, which I have already vehemently denied,” he said.
But Hontiveros said Moeurn, who claimed to be a Cambodian national, was actually a “very high-level” Chinese fugitive who had evaded arrest in his home country.
“[He] is actually a wanted fugitive in China. The Cambodian passport held by the man is fake,” Hontiveros said at the end of the five-hour proceedings.
“He’s really Chinese and as per our Chinese informant, he’s on the red notice [list of] fugitives, very high-level, and he has already defrauded 100,000 people. So this person’s [criminal] record is really bad,” she warned.
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Foreigner arrested in Benguet linked to Porac POGO(2024.7.31)
Released / Bureau of Immigration
MANILA, Philippines — One of the foreigners arrested in an exclusive subdivision in Tuba, Benguet was a financier and operator of several scam farms, including the raided Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGO) hub in Porac, Pampanga, according to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission.
PAOCC executive director Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz said Sun Liming, who introduced himself as Cambodian national Khuon Moeurn, is connected with the operations of Lucky South 99, an illegal POGO in Porac which was raided by law enforcement agencies due to human trafficking and other illegal activities.
“He has been identified as a financier and operator of several scam farms in the country, one of which is the raided Porac scam hub,” Cruz said in a message on Viber.
Sun and Chinese woman Wang Keping, 35, were arrested by agents of PAOCC and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) intelligence division on Saturday.
Cruz said Sun created Liming.com, a financial platform which he and his cohorts use in duping investors by claiming they had multiple contracts from the government of China.
By the time the scam was discovered last July 2023, Sun’s group had already defrauded 7.09 billion yuan from their victims.
Sun then escaped to the Philippines and used another identity in carrying out his nefarious activities.
‘Embarrassing’
Law enforcement agencies, including the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), should be ashamed for their failure to arrest Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo and others on orders of the Senate, which Senate President Francis Escudero described as “embarrassing.”
Escudero said law enforcement agencies failed to locate Guo, or Chinese national Guo Hua Ping, whom the BI confirmed is still in the country.
“My answer is yes, it’s a shame for the PNP not to be able to do this (locate Guo), especially since they are still in the country according to the BI,” Escudero told Senate reporters.
But while he admitted that the issue on the law agencies’ budget will be tackled during the national budget deliberations, Escudero disagreed with the possibility of slashing the PNP and NBI budgets for 2025 for their failure to arrest certain individuals.
Sen. Jinggoy Estrada earlier threatened to cut the budgets of the PNP and the NBI next year if they fail to find Guo.
In response, the PNP assured the Senate that their manhunt operations are ongoing to apprehend Guo.
“The PNP is doing everything within our powers and authority to bring Mayor Alice Guo and others to the jurisdiction ng Senate,” PNP spokesperson Col. Jean Fajardo said at a news briefing.
Comelec probe
The Commission on Elections’ fact-finding committee tasked to look into Guo’s election documents is expected to come out with their recommendation within the week, according to Comelec Chairman George Garcia.
Should it be found that Guo violated election laws, the suspended mayor faces another arrest warrant, Garcia said. He noted that a warrant of arrest can be issued against Guo once Comelec files a criminal complaint against her before the regional trial court.
“Per determination of a possible criminal case, the Commission will file the case in court. The court issues a warrant of arrest in all criminal proceedings,” Garcia said at a press briefing yesterday.
He, however, clarified that the election offense charge is bailable.
Garcia headed a team of poll officials who went to Tarlac yesterday to determine if Guo’s fingerprints on the Election Day computerized voters list will match the fingerprint from the NBI, which previously found to be the same as Chinese national Guo Hua Ping.
If the evidence warrants, the Comelec will order the law department to conduct a preliminary investigation.
Garcia, however, stressed that the Commission would give Guo due process and allow her to answer the findings against her.
Benguet house
There were reports that former presidential spokesman Harry Roque owned the house at the high-end Pinewoods Subdivision in Tuba, Benguet that was raided last Saturday. Roque clarified that he owned some shares in a company linked to a firm that owns the house. He said he had also stayed in the house in the past.
A veteran government intelligence official said that years ago, Roque’s wife Myla was even the homeowners’ club vice president.
A quick look at the Pinewoods Homeowners Association social media page indicated the Roques as owners of the house at Lot 37, Block 23, Cedar St., Pinewoods Golf and Country Club Subdivision. Even a supposed registration form for election of homeowners’ officials in April 2024 indicated the email addresses of Roque and his wife.
A vehicular accident on June 3 that involved Yun Wan, 35, indicated that she was staying at that same address. Tuba policemen were reportedly berated by Roque’s wife when investigators tried to probe the vehicular incident that involved Wan’s black Hyundai Tucson (plate number CCC 3120) against a contractor.
Photographs obtained by authorities also showed that the Roques owned the house.
Roque’s neighborhood had recently petitioned the homeowners’ association on the presence of two cows at the controversial house.
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Chinese in disguise: Find out the real name of ‘Cambodian’ nabbed at Benguet house linked to Harry Roque(2024.7.30)
A foreigner arrested over the weekend at a house in Tuba, Benguet for alleged involvement in illegal gaming operations was found to be a Chinese fugitive on the radar of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).
Sun Liming, a Chinese national, faked documents and posed as a Cambodian citizen named Khuon Mouern.
According to the red notice issued by Interpol, Sun is wanted in China for illegally taking in public deposits. He faces up to 10 years in jail once arrested.
Sun is now in custody of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC). The Chinese Embassy is now processing his deportation.
Former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque has denied ownership of the house raided by authorities in Tuba but admitted in a July 29 Senate hearing that he has an interest in the company that owns the residence.
“Ang bahay po na tinutukoy n’yo sa Tuba, Benguet ay rehistrado po sa isang korporasyon. Tinirhan ko po ‘yan noong ako ay umalis ng gobyerno and I do have an interest in the corporation that owns it. Pero wala po sa akin ang possession ng bahay na ‘yan, dahil as of January of 2024, ‘yan po ay pinaupahan ng korporasyon,” Roque explained during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Women, Children, Family Relations and Gender Equality.
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中國紅通疑犯孫利民菲律賓落網 涉深圳網貸詐騙¥70億
內地涉及經營網貸平台「利民網」，詐騙70億人民幣的疑犯孫利民，潛逃出國，被列入中國紅色通緝令人員。孫利民日前於菲律賓落網，中國駐菲大使館已經要求引渡孫利民回國。
據《菲律賓商報》報道，孫利民於7月27日在菲律賓孟訖（Benguet）省圖巴（Tuba）一所房屋被拘捕，之後遭移民局發現是中國的紅通人員，國際刑警組織對他簽發了紅色通緝令。
總統反有組織犯罪委員會表示，他們當時接到情報稱，有Lucky South 99博彩公司的高層藏在那裡。
被捕後，孫利民透過翻譯否認他們在波拉克的網路博彩公司工作。他說他只是來孟訖打高爾夫球。
曾份柬埔寨人躲追捕
總統反有組織犯罪委員會古律斯副部長說：「他（孫利民）的公司是（深圳）利民網……詐騙中國公民高達70億元人民幣，……孫利民是他們網上使用最多的IT專家。」網絡博彩公司使用的詐騙平台就是他設計的。
ABS-CBN新聞向孫利民出示了一份國際刑警組織的紅色通緝令，他承認自己就是照片中的人。
總統反有組織犯罪委員會表示，孫利民利用不同國籍躲避追捕，在被揭發是中國人前，孫利民曾假裝是柬埔寨公民，使用Kun Wer的假名。
總統反有組織犯罪委員會也擔心，從他們逮捕的中國逃犯數量來看，菲律賓似乎被用作中國逃犯的藏身之處。除了孫利民，超過 30 名外國人計劃被驅逐出境。其中三人是逃犯。
據網上資料顯示，2018年7月18日，網貸平台「利民網」發佈延期兌付公告，決定退出網貸行業。次日，深圳市南山警方就對「利民網」涉嫌非法吸收公眾存款立案偵查。
據悉，中國駐菲大使館已經要求引渡孫利民回國。
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