{"id":777015320,"date":"2024-05-08T09:39:38","date_gmt":"2024-05-08T12:39:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777015320"},"modified":"2026-04-22T10:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T13:29:40","slug":"chinese-nationals-give-testimonies-on-alleged-illegal-labour-at-gambling-operator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/chinese-nationals-give-testimonies-on-alleged-illegal-labour-at-gambling-operator","title":{"rendered":"Chinese nationals give testimonies on alleged illegal labour at gambling operator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Ten have provided statements to prosecutors in relation to a Pasay City-based gambling firm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>The Philippines.- Ten Chinese nationals have provided testimony against seven compatriots in the case of a <a href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/23-pogo-workers-plead-not-guilty-in-securities-violation-case\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pasay City-based online gambling firm<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0was raided\u00a0last year.\u00a0The testimonies will be evaluated by prosecutors, who will determine the feasibility of\u00a0legal action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Winston Romeo Casio<\/strong>, spokesperson for the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), told the Philippine News Agency the testimonies provided evidence of forced labour and the sale of personnel at Smart Web Technology Corp. In a raid last year on a six-story building along Williams Street in Pasay City, authorities rescued 731 workers, including seven Filipinas, from an aquarium-style viewing chamber on the second floor of a massage parlour within the building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chinese workers claimed they were being held against their will and exhibited signs of physical abuse. The raid found a nine-room KTV area, pharmacy, a restaurant, and a designated area for illicit drug activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>See also:<\/strong>&nbsp;<a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/senator-gatchalian-urges-probe-into-illegal-workers\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Senator Gatchalian urges probe into illegal workers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ten have provided statements to prosecutors in relation to a Pasay City-based gambling firm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":176,"featured_media":21187,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Prosecutors are evaluating testimonies from ten Chinese nationals against seven compatriots regarding a raid on Pasay City-based Smart Web Technology Corp. The raid uncovered evidence of forced labor, human trafficking, and illicit activities within the online gambling firm's premises. This development highlights ongoing regulatory challenges and enforcement actions against illegal iGaming operations in the Philippines.","focusai_entities":"Smart Web Technology Corp., Winston Romeo Casio, Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission, PAOCC, Philippine News Agency, Senator Gatchalian","focusai_location":"Philippines, Pasay City","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (1.0), operator_casino (0.8), payments_fraud_aml (0.8), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"PAOCC enforcement strategy?","query":"What is the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission's (PAOCC) strategy for dismantling similar illicit iGaming operations across the Philippines?"},{"label":"Regulatory impact on POGOs?","query":"How will this case influence the regulatory landscape and licensing requirements for legitimate Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) firms?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[439,16333],"tags":[20326,15789],"class_list":["post-777015320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-legal-news","category-south-east-asia-news","tag-illegal-gambling","tag-pogos"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015320","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=777015320"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015320\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777015337,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777015320\/revisions\/777015337"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777015320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777015320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777015320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}