MANILA: Philippine police have arrested more than 270 Chinese nationals ina raid on a gang wanted over a vast investment fraud that cost victims inChina millions of dollars, authorities said Friday.
Agents swooped on an office building in the capital Manila on Wednesday totake four suspects into custody in connection with the 100 million yuan($14 million) scam, but stumbled upon many more.
“The operation then yielded the incidental arrest of 273 other Chinesenationals who were caught in the act of conducting illegal onlineoperations,” immigration authorities said, without elaborating.
Further checking revealed those suspects, who did not have proper papers tobe in the Philippines, were also wanted by Chinese authorities over alarge-scale investment scam.
A total of 277 people were taken into custody in the operation thatPhilippine officials carried out in conjunction with Chinese authorities.
Read Top Stories
The Philippines has seen a spike in the arrival of Chinese tourists andworkers since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in mid-2016 andimmediately set about warming relations with Beijing.
The influx has had a mixed impact in the Philippines, with authoritiessuspecting many of the arrivals are working illegally in the onlinegambling industry. -APP/AFP
