18 Chinese, Vietnamese charged for fraud

MANILA, Philippines — Criminal cases were filed against 18 foreigners who were arrested in Parañaque City for alleged involvement in online scams, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) reported yesterday.

NBI Director Jaime Santiago said eight of the suspects are Chinese who were nabbed following the implementation of a warrant to search, seize and examine computer data on Jan. 14.

The suspects are Xiao Li, Chuan Zi Gao, Ming Ru Li, Wen Shu Liu, Qui Shun Li, Cai Li Pan, Changfu Liu and Zhang Zhen Hong.

Another Chinese suspect remains at large.

The NBI filed complaints against the suspects for computer-related forgery under Republic Act 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act, and RA 12010, the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act, before the Parañaque prosecutor’s office.

Santiago said the operation was based on an intelligence report that suspects were engaged in investment fraud, cryptocurrency scam, romance scam, identity theft and digital communication schemes.

Ten more foreign nationals were apprehended by NBI agents for investment fraud and other scams on Jan. 15.

Seven of the suspects are Vietnamese. The other three are Chinese nationals Zhang Ming Yi, Xin Yao Huang and Himen Chen.

Santiago said complaints for violating the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Law were filed against the suspects.