The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) filed criminal complaints against 17 foreigners who were arrested on 11 October 2024 at a cyber scam hub in Makati City.

NBI director Jaime B. Santiago said they have already presented the suspects for inquest and they will be charged accordingly before the Makati City Prosecutor’s Office for violating Republic Act (RA) 12010 or the Anti–Financial Account Scamming and RA 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Those presented for inquest included 15 Chinese nationals, one Malaysian and one Taiwanese — all of whom were arrested on 11 October in Tejeros, Makati City by operatives of the NBI’s Cybercrime Division during the service of a Warrant to Search, Seize and Examine Computer Data issued by Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 147.

During the operation, NBI operatives found several live electronic devices such as desktop computers, laptops, and cellphones utilized in illicit online operations.

They also discovered in its controlled viewing and onsite forensic examination digital evidence, tools and applications for social engineering schemes, illegal access, misuse of devices, computer-related forgery and fraud.