{"id":777010534,"date":"2023-10-24T07:39:36","date_gmt":"2023-10-24T10:39:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777010534"},"modified":"2026-04-22T16:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T19:51:46","slug":"pcso-files-charges-over-illegal-online-lottery-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/pcso-files-charges-over-illegal-online-lottery-operations","title":{"rendered":"PCSO files charges over illegal online lottery operations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has filed charges against four firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has taken legal action against four firms for alleged involvement in unauthorised online lottery operations.\u00a0PCSO general manager\u00a0Mel Robles<\/strong> has filed charges against Eplayment Corporation, Paymero Technologies Limited, GlobalComRCI International, and Blockchain Smart-Tech Co IT Consultancy at the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges include usurpation of authority and violations of Republic Act 1169<\/strong>\u00a0and Presidential Decree 1602 (illegal gambling).\u00a0They are a result of an investigation by\u00a0the National Bureau of Investigation<\/strong> into the ownership and operation of illicit online lottery games named Pakilotto and Surelotto.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eplayment<\/strong>, formerly operating under the defunct Pakilotto website, was allegedly soliciting and accepting bets from the public at PHP30 per ticket, a 50 per cent increase compared to the standard PHP20 lotto ticket.\u00a0Surelotto, a similar mobile app, sold tickets online for PHP25. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

GlobalComRCI<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Blockchain Smart-Tech<\/strong>\u00a0allegedly collaborated with Eplayment and technology provider Paymero, using the latter’s software for processing payments and managing financial account information. Robles says the companies misused the PCSO’s name, logo and various lottery games, attracting bets through unauthorised mobile applications and websites.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See also: <\/strong>Philippines continues working to exit FATF gray List<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office has filed charges against four firms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":24416,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has filed charges against Eplayment Corporation, Paymero Technologies Limited, GlobalComRCI International, and Blockchain Smart-Tech Co IT Consultancy for alleged unauthorized online lottery operations. These charges, including usurpation of authority and illegal gambling, stem from an NBI investigation into illicit platforms like Pakilotto and Surelotto, which misused PCSO branding and solicited bets without authorization. This action underscores the regulatory body's commitment to enforcing licensing frameworks and combating illegal gaming activities within the jurisdiction.","focusai_entities":"Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Eplayment Corporation, Paymero Technologies Limited, GlobalComRCI International, Blockchain Smart-Tech Co IT Consultancy, Mel Robles, National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Pakilotto, Surelotto","focusai_location":"Philippines, Mandaluyong City","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), tech_data (0.7), marketing_crm (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.9), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.9), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"B2B Supplier Liability?","query":"What are the potential liabilities for B2B technology providers whose platforms are utilized by unauthorized iGaming operators in regulated markets?"},{"label":"Regulatory Framework Impact?","query":"How might this aggressive enforcement by PCSO influence the future B2C licensing framework and regulatory compliance expectations for legitimate iGaming operators in the Philippines?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[23911,3573],"class_list":["post-777010534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-gambling-regulation","tag-lottery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777010534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/176"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777010534"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777010534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777041089,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777010534\/revisions\/777041089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777010534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777010534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777010534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}