274 Chinese arrested in Ortigas not fugitives, have valid papers, employer says

The employer of the Chinese nationals who were arrested last week on charges of fraud has defended their workers, telling the Bureau of Immigration that they are documented and are not fugitives from any country.

Xinfeng Ou, the CEO of Grapefruit Service, Inc., purportedly a virtual currency exchange provider, wrote the BI to say that 274 of the 277 persons who were arrested in the company's offices in Ortigas last September 11 have valid passports and most have working visas.

Only three of the 277 were named in the mission order issued by Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente upon request by the Chinese embassy, which alleged the three were wanted by Beijing and owned cancelled passports.

The letter stated that this means the arrest of the other 274 who were not in the mission order was "illegal at the outset," finding it "interesting" that their passports were cancelled -- the justification for the arrest -- only on the day of the raid.

"Indeed, this is a classic example of a flawed postscript or afterthought designed to justify an illegal act," the letter said.

The letter claimed that the 274 were able to pass through both Chinese and Filipino authorities, and that most of them have working permits or visas from the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority, with the papers of the others being processed. Some of those arrested were just visitors or relatives of Grapefruit employees, it said.

"The answer to these questions is simple, that is, their names are not in the INTERPOL list because they are not wanted persons either in their country or anywhere in the world," it said.

The letter claimed that Grapefruit is neither a Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) nor a corporation engaged in online gambling but is a "financial technology solutions and offshore virtually currency exchange provider" licensed by CEZA.

The arrested Chinese nationals are detained in the BI Warden Facility in Taguig City pending their deportation proceedings.

They were allegedly pretending to be working for a call center company but were involved in an investment scam selling cryptocurrency to their fellow Chinese, according to a report by GMA News' John Consulta last Friday.

The Bureau of Immigration has yet to reply to GMA News Online's query for reaction.—LDF, GMA News