PAGCOR reiterates warning vs. illegal gambling activities

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) on Friday reiterated its warning to the public not to engage in any unauthorized gambling activities offered by unscrupulous individuals and groups.

In a statement, PAGCOR said its public warning was made after the Philippine National Police Anti-Cybercrime Group (PNP-ACG) conducted a successful operation against an illegal online bingo operator recently.

Last week, the PNP-ACG nabbed a couple for conducting illegal bingo operations on Facebook. https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/metro/756332/couple-in-qc-nabbed-for-holding-illegal-online-bingo/story/

The gaming regulator said the arrested operator was just one of several illegal gambling operations that were under surveillance and case monitoring.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic started early this year, PAGCOR said it has received an increase in reports on illegal online gambling being promoted through social media platforms like Facebook.

To further strengthen the fight against unauthorized gambling activities, the state run-gaming regulator said it will ask for the assistance of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) to conduct investigation on banks, remittance services, and payment solutions used fund conduits for these illegal operations.

“While illegal gambling per se is not among the predicate crimes of Money Laundering, frauds and swindling are,” the PAGCOR said.

“These are based on the act of taking bets from the public by falsely representing that they have a legitimate business, when in fact, they have no such authority,” it added.

The gaming regulator likewise called on Facebook to cooperate with the PAGCOR and Philippine authorities to curtail fraudulent activities, which are promoted through their platform. —Ted Cordero/KBK, GMA News