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NBI sues 3 Taiwanese, Canadian for illegal casino in Clark(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF INvestigation (NBI) has filed illegal gambling charges against the foreign and local directors of an alleged illegal virtual casino operating in the Clark Special Economic Zone in Angeles City, Pampanga. The Taiwanese incorporators and directors of British Grand Vision International Co. Incthe company behind the alleged illegal casinowere identified as Chang Wei Chieh, Yang Jen Chieh, and Wang Teng Li, all residing at the Parc Royale Condominium, Dona Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City. The NBI likewise filed charges against the companys Canadian director Steve Jing Chen Huang, also a resident of Parc Royale Condominium, Dona Julia Vargas Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, and Filipino incorporator Edgar Lim, of Antel Seaview Condominium, 2626 Roxas Blvd., Pasay City. At least nine managers and assistant supervisors, 10 Chinese and Taiwanese online dealers, and 33 Filipino online dealers also face illegal gambling charges, according to NBI Special Action Unit chief Vicente de Guzman III. The NBI had seized an estimated P30 million worth of expensive cyber equipment used in illegal online gambling during a raid at the Transglobal Building, Andrew Street, Civil Aviation Complex, A. Bonifacio, Hangar 7260, Clark Special Economic Zone, Angeles City, Pampanga last Oct. 17. A complaint filed by the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) at the NBI alleged that British Grand Vision International was behind the illegal casinos operations. Pagcor Chair Ephraim Genuino, through his chief legal counsel Carlos Bautista Jr., said that the British Grand Vision International had begun operating an Internet casino without any permit from the government agency early this year. The Pagcor officials also told the NBI that the online casino was so profitable that nearby casinos at the Mimosa and Fontana recreational parks have been losing money. De Guzman said that after applying for a search warrant, the agents raided the establishment and seized casino tables, dealers chairs and fixtures, TV sets, casino playing cards, shoe boxes for the playing cards, computers with plasma screens; webcams and digital video cameras; and servers used to send live casino games to the Internet. Investigation showed that in order to play the online casino games, the clients were required to download the software provided by the operator and install it in their computers. The players are then required to create an account with the online operator before playing games such as baccarat (a card game). Female online dealers then interact with the clients through webcam. Anybody in the country, even those based abroad, could participate in the online games, De Guzman said in an earlier interview. Copyright 2006 Philippine Daily Inquirer. Source : Financial Times Information Limited (Trademark) |