Over P112-M found in vaults of suspected Bataan POGO firm
AGENTS of the Philippine National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission on Wednesday seized over P112 million in cash stored in the safety vaults of a Bagac, Bataan company said to be involved in illegal POGO activities.
The forced opening of 12 of the 14 safes were made on the strength of a search warrant issued by Executive Judge Hermenegildo Dumlao II of the Malolos City Regional Trial Court Branch 81, said the PNP-CIDG headed by Brig. Gen. Nicolas D. Torre III.
According to the PNP-CIDG director, they served the search warrant at the Central One Compound in Bgy. Parac in Bagac municipality based on the authority given them by the court to access the 12 safety vaults located at Buildings 3,5 and 7 of the compound.
The official said the operation is part of their ongoing effort to build-up a case against “Boss Kalbo” or “Chinese Boss” for violation of Republic Act 9208 or the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003 as amended by RA 10364 or the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012.
Local policemen assisted the PNP-CIDG and the PAOCC in serving the search warrants issued last November 18.
Torre said the operation began at around 2:50 p.m. Wednesday and ended at 1 a.m. Thursday.
He said that during the operation, officers seized substantial evidence, including assorted documents, vouchers, keys, foreign passports, security tokens, and various denominations of foreign currencies including Malaysian Ringgit, Singapore Dollars, US Dollars and Philippine Peso amounting to P112,570,495.
The recovered pieces of evidence were packed into eight boxes and transported to the CIDG Anti-Organized Crime Unit office at Camp Crame for temporary safekeeping.
The PNP-CIDG director said they will be eventually returned to the court of origin as part of ongoing legal proceedings.
“This successful operation underscores the CIDG’s steadfast commitment to eradicating human trafficking and organized crime through coordinated efforts with partner agencies, ensuring the perpetrators are brought to justice and put behind bars,” Torre said.
