taya777 Police seize P112.5M cash, passports at raided Bataan BPO
Police seized P112.5 million in cash and foreign passports in the safety vaults of Central One Bataan, a BPO firm in Bagac, Bataan on Nov. 20, 2024.
MANILA, Philippines — Police seized P112.5 million in cash and foreign passports in the safety vaults of Central One Bataan, the business process outsourcing (BPO) firm raided by law enforcement last October 31.
In a press briefing at Camp Crame on Thursday, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said officers opened 12 safety vaults at Central One’s offices in Bagac, Bataan on Wednesday under a new search warrant.
Article continues after this advertisementThe Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and operatives of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) raided Central One Bataan PH’s offices last October under a search warrant related to alleged trafficking violations.
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PAOCC insisted Central One was fronting for an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator, saying it found evidence of gambling software and black market banking.
Article continues after this advertisementREAD: ‘Pogo hub’ in Bataan seems into ‘black market banking’ – Paocc
Article continues after this advertisementCentral One denied the claim, saying that it was a BPO company operating under a license by the Authority of the Freeport Area of Bataan (AFAB)
Article continues after this advertisementAFAB confirmed this in a statement to INQUIRER.net on November 1.
In implementing the follow-up warrant on Wednesday, the CIDG recovered and took custody of a sum of P112,570,495 in foreign currencies from the vault, in addition to P40 million found during the initial raid, according to Fajardo.
Article continues after this advertisementIn a message to INQUIRER.net on Thursday, Central One legal counsel Cherry Anne dela Cruz said the money in the vaults was for salaries.
Fajardo refuted this, saying “The PAOCC, the PNP, and our other associates here believe that with such a large sum of money, we know salaries today aren’t given in cash; it all goes through the automated teller machine.”
“How come they have hundreds of millions of pesos in their possession? So we believe that these are proceeds or profit out of the said illegal activities, including scamming,” she added.
Moreover, Fajardo reported that operatives seized foreign passports, security tokens, vouchers, and assorted documents from the BPO company’s offices.
“This would somehow prove that the administrators of Central One are withholding these foreign passports. Supposedly, this is not necessary,” she said.
“If I were legitimately working there, these passports should be in my possession because these are individual passports. How come a company is withholding these passports? That will be subject to investigation,” she added.
The PNP did not provide a breakdown of the documents seized, the nationalities of the foreign passports confiscated, nor the foreign currencies found.
Dela Cruz dismissed the PNP’s remarks as “baseless speculations,” saying “Money per se is not illegal. Same with expired passports.”
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“It is better to face the allegations in courttaya777, instead of the court of public opinion,” she added.
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