THE 68 foreigners, mostly Taiwanese, who were arrested for online fraud, were sent back to their rented houses in high-end subdivisions in Cebu City under guard by two battalions from the Regional Public Safety Battalion (RPSB) 7.
Senior Supt. Rey Lyndon Lawas, directorate chief of staff of Police Regional Office, said the 43 Taiwanese nationals will soon be deported as their passports and visas have been revoked and cancelled.
“Deportation proceedings are now undertaken. They will be deported to Taiwan where they will be prosecuted since the victims are from there,” he said.
The process for the revocation of the passports of the 25 Chinese nationals has been started, in close coordination with the Chinese consulate.
Supt. Rex Derilo, acting chief of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID), assured that the suspects are secured and could not escape from the authorities.
READ: Taiwan fraud ring busted
He said they had to send them back to their rented houses because they were throwing garbage and human wastes in the multi-purpose hall inside the Police Regional Office Central Visayas (PRO-7) headquarters, where they were kept after their arrest.
Lawas said the filing of cases will be done in Taiwan and China, where the victims can file affidavits for a stronger case.
Filing of cases in the Philippines will stop the deportation process, he said.
“They are now in the process of deportation and the schedule of the flight back for the Taiwanese nationals is now being discussed between the Bureau of Immigration, PRO-7 and the consulate,” said Lawas.
Derilo, who led the raid against the suspects, said they were also preparing for the filing of cases in Cebu should the reglamentary period lapse prior to their deportation.
“The documents are prepared for filing just in case the deportation will take longer than usual. This is a crime and we cannot let them be released,” Derilo told Cebi Daily News.
Lawas said they have yet to identify the possible local contacts who might have helped the foreigners in their operation in Cebu.
Last Tuesday, four houses and three condominium units were raided by RID operatives, in coordination with Taiwanese police, on the strength of nine search warrants issued by Executive Judge Soliver Peras of Cebu City Regional Trial Court.
The houses are located in subdivisions in barangays Guadalupe, Mabolo and Talamban.