{"id":777035671,"date":"2025-12-05T10:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/?p=777035671"},"modified":"2026-04-21T16:17:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T19:17:06","slug":"fugitives-wanted-over-illegal-online-gambling-arrested-in-the-philippines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/fugitives-wanted-over-illegal-online-gambling-arrested-in-the-philippines","title":{"rendered":"Fugitives wanted over illegal online gambling arrested in the Philippines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Investigators allege the suspects operated offshore platforms in breach of the Philippines’ ban.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The Philippines.- The Philippines\u2019 Bureau of Immigration (BI) has arrested two Chinese nationals over their alleged role in an illegal online gambling operation that targeted Chinese players. Coordination between the BI\u2019s Fugitive Search Unit and Chinese law enforcement led to the arrests of 38-year-old Wu Haifu and 48-year-old Li Yong Para\u00f1aque City.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wu is the subject of an arrest warrant issued in January 2025<\/strong> by the Binzhou Public Security Bureau for the illegal operation of casinos, while Li, was wanted on related charges<\/strong>. The pair were located in Barangay Tambo and have been detained pending deportation proceedings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The BI said that Wu previously worked for an offshore gaming operator but did not leave the country after the government banned the industry<\/a> late last year. Investigators allege that Wu and his accomplices created multiple overseas gambling platforms that reportedly imposed excessive withdrawal requirements and manipulated betting conditions to prolong gameplay and increase wagering frequency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities estimate that around 500,000 players<\/strong> were victimised by the network, which allegedly generated RMB8.6m (US$1.2m)<\/strong> in illicit revenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commissioner Joel Anthony Viado<\/strong> reiterated the BI’s enforcement of the ban on offshore gaming. He said: \u201cWe will not allow POGO operations to take root in our country again<\/strong>. If you are involved in illegal gaming, we will find you, arrest you, and remove you from the Philippines.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> South Korean arrests for illegal online gambling surpass 5,000 in 12 months<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Investigators allege the suspects operated offshore platforms in breach of the Philippines’ ban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":680,"featured_media":777035675,"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 Bureau of Immigration has arrested two Chinese nationals for allegedly operating illegal offshore online gambling platforms targeting Chinese players, generating RMB8.6m in illicit revenue. These arrests underscore the BI's stringent enforcement of the recent ban on offshore gaming operations, with authorities vowing to dismantle any re-emerging illegal activities. The suspects are accused of manipulating betting conditions and imposing excessive withdrawal requirements on an estimated 500,000 victims.","focusai_entities":"Bureau of Immigration (BI), Wu Haifu, Li Yong, Binzhou Public Security Bureau, Joel Anthony Viado","focusai_location":"Philippines, Para\u00f1aque City","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.95), operator_casino (0.7), payments_fraud_aml (0.85), investor_analyst (0.8), supplier_vendor (0.7), journalist_researcher (0.95)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"POGO Ban Efficacy?","query":"What specific metrics or indicators will the Philippine government use to assess the long-term efficacy of the POGO ban in eradicating illegal offshore gambling operations and preventing their re-establishment?"},{"label":"Cross-border Enforcement?","query":"How will the Philippine Bureau of Immigration enhance cross-border intelligence sharing and operational coordination with international law enforcement agencies to combat the transnational nature of illegal online gambling networks?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[16338,439],"tags":[24634,15789,24804],"class_list":["post-777035671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-east-asia-news","category-legal-news","tag-illegal-online-gambling","tag-pogos","tag-the-philippines"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777035671","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\/680"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=777035671"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777035671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":777035684,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/777035671\/revisions\/777035684"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/777035675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=777035671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=777035671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/asia-pacific\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=777035671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}