AFTER paving the way for the nationwide shutdown of offshore online gambling commonly known as ‘POGO,’ the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) under the supervision of Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin, is now also making headway in the campaign against online lending application (OLAs) syndicates with the arrest of 172 persons during an operation in Ortigas, Pasig City, last July 15.
Undersecretary Gilbert Cruz, PAOCC Executive Director, said the target of their operation is the ‘Creditable Lending Corporation,’ the company behind the controversial online lending application, ‘Easy Peso.’
Cruz said they conducted the operation thru a ‘Warrant to Search, Seize, and Examine Computer Data’ (WSSECD), issued by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 46 of Manila.
Participating in the raid spearheaded by the PAOCC are the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG), and the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), National Privacy Commission (NPC), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Easy Peso employees are notorious for publicly shaming and bullying their clients whenever they are unable to pay their loan on time. Such modus already resulted to the suicide of one victim of Easy Peso from Valenzuela City last July 4, Cruz noted.
Authorities were also able to seize hundreds of computers and several company-issued mobile phones allegedly used for harassment during debt collection, along with hundreds of pre-registered SIM cards, text blasters, and harassment scripts.
The raid follows months of surveillance and investigation, aided by the testimony of a former employee who came forward to expose how the company misled and harassed borrowers.
Some victims were directed to send payments to personal GCash or bank accounts under the guise of clearing their loans, only to be contacted again by collectors despite having made the payment.
“May isang buhay na nawala dahil sa pang-aabuso ng isang lending app. Hindi utang ang pumatay sa kanya kundi ‘yung walang-awang pangha-harass. Sa bawat biktima, huwag kayong matakot. Hindi kayo nag-iisa. Nandito ang gobyerno na handa kayong tulungan,” Cruz said.
The SEC is reviewing the company’s legal and regulatory compliance, as its operations appear to have exploited the system while falsely claiming legitimacy.
It was learned that while the company’s business registration was issued in Taguig City, its business was located in Pasig City.
The arrested employees were under the temporary custody of the PAOCC prior to the inquest proceeding.
Cruz said they are still looking into the operation of at least 100 more LOAs in compliance with the directive of President Marcos Jr. for the PAOCC to protect the public by dismantling abusive OLAs.
He said they are also checking the compliance of the LOAs to an earlier closure order issued to them by the SEC.
It can be recalled that it was the unrelenting operation of the PAOCC against POGOs that resulted to President Marcos Jr. ordering their closure that he announced during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) in 2024.