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Lucky South 99 representative Cassandra Li Ong and 53 others have been accused by 10 Chinese nationals of trafficking and forcing them to work at the illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo) in Porac, Pampanga, where they were rescued during a raid in June.
The foreigners claimed they were kidnapped, held against their will, and coerced into becoming workers of Lucky South 99, one of two Pogo hubs in Central Luzon at the center of a deepening criminal investigation.
This was what they claimed in a complaint filed at the Department of Justice on Tuesday.
Aside from the Chinese nationals, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) and the Philippine National Police were listed as complainants in the document charging Ong and the company with qualified human trafficking, a nonbailable offense.
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“One of the Chinese nationals was lent P450,000 and gambled for three nights playing mahjong. When he couldn’t repay the debt, he was taken directly to Lucky South,” Prosecutor Ramoncito Ocampo said at a press briefing.
They were promised freedom once the debt was fully settled. “[But] when they’re close to … paying off their remaining balance, [the Pogos] sell them to another Pogo.
