Three foreigners who are allegedly operating a cryptocurrency scam and their two Filipino employees were arrested during a raid in Pasig City on Wednesday, May 17, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said.
(Contributed photo)
Brig. Gen. Sidney Hernia, director of the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG), identified the suspects as Israeli nationals Shay “Shai” Semo and Chen “Novick” Keren, and American national Aron Dermer with aliases “Charles,” “Aaron,” and “Shoes”.
Police said the foreigners are the alleged owners of a two-storey establishment in Brgy. Kapitolyo, Pasig City where they operate the illegal scheme.
Also arrested were two Filipinos working as “agent-chatters” identified as Marie Mizukami, 35; and Krizzia Garcia, 24. Both are residents of Parañaque City.
According to police, the suspects were caught committing online fraud while chatting with their victims online.
The raiding team is composed of members from the PNP-ACG, Manila District Anti-Cybercrime Team (MDACT) headed by Police Capt. Marlon Flores, Digital Forensic Unit (DFU) under Police Col. Irene Cena, and Cyber Financial Crime Unit (CFCU) under Police Lt. Col. Robert Bongayon.
Seized from the two-story establishment were 24 laptops, computer monitors, 16 system units, assorted mobile phones, a disc video recorder, three units of external hard drive, Internet hub, 12 SIM cards, several USBs, a ledger, assorted documents, IDs, and membership cards.
Reports said that the suspects were brought to the PNP-ACG headquarters in Camp Came, Quezon City where they will be charged for violation of Republic Act No. 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.