The Philippine National Police (PNP) believes that there is an ongoing effort to undermine the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) following its recent raid on an alleged scam hub in Manila.
PNP Spokesperson PBGen. Jean Fajardo said that there are obvious attempts to discredit both the ACG and the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), which led the operation at Vertex Digital Entertainment Technologies Inc.
ACG Director MGen. Ronnie Francis Cariaga and NCRPO Chief MGen. Sidney Hernia were previously relieved due to complaints of irregularities in the operation.
However, the authorities continue to stand by the legitimacy of the raid conducted in Manila, especially after discovering that the company had been suspiciously changing its name.
Meanwhile, Fajardo also rejected the allegations that the money seized during their recent raids had been tampered with.
"May mga lumalabas po na misinformation and disinformation to put some cloud of doubt dito po sa latest na operation po ng ACG at PNP NCRPO doon po sa Century Peak Tower at binuksan po 'yung mga previous case po natin involving 'yung mga POGOs po," Fajardo said in a press briefing on Monday.
The PNP rejected the accusations that more than 300 million pesos recovered from two separate illegal POGO operations conducted by their team were missing.
Fajardo further clarified that the over 300 million pesos seized in the first two raids remained intact and that P317 million is currently under the custody of the PNP.
"There's no truth sa mga lumalabas na reports na mga malicious reports na nawawala po 'yung mga pera," said Fajardo.
Fajardo added that the seized money is regarded as the fruit of the crime in the ongoing case, and once the case is brought before the competent court, the PNP’s actions, including the proper disposal, will depend on the court's decision.
