Koreans in Pampanga arrested for credit card fraud

ANGELES CITY, Philippines – A regional trial court judge in Pampanga has ordered the police to seize several computer units belonging to two Korean tourists after receiving information that the machines were allegedly being used in cybercrime.

Chief Inspector Rommel Labalan, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) Pampanga chief, said in his application for search warrant that the computers owned by the Korean suspects were being used to allegedly defraud victims by accessing and using their credit card’s client information.

The former employee-turned-police informant said in his sworn statement that the money being made in the alleged illegal activities was being forwarded to a bank account. He also said that most of the victims are Koreans and Chinese who live in foreign soils.

Judge Maria Amifaith Fider-Reyes of the City of San Fernando Regional Trial Court Branch 42 issued the order on Monday, November 20, after the CIDG Pampanga requested the court for warrants to search residential units 53-5, 53-2, and 49-19 located in Dona Isabel Subdivision in Barangay Pulung Maragul here.

In the 3 search warrants, the judge ordered the CIDG Pampanga to seize and bring to the court the computer units allegedly used in violating Section 9 of the Republic Act 8484 (Access Devices Regulation Act of 1998) in relation to Section 7 of RA 10175, the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.

Named in the 3 search warrants were Chang Chang Yu, Young Ho, and other occupants of the 3 residential units.

At Around 5 am on Monday, CIDG Pampanga operatives served the search warrants and arrested Chang, also known as Changyun Jang, 46. 

Young was not around during the raid and is still at large.

Also brought to the CIDG Pampanga office for questioning and possible filing of charges were 8 Filipino males and two Filipino females working for the Korean suspects as “computer operators.”

A day before the raid, a former employee of Chang and Young brought with him an undercover CIDG Pampanga operative to get proof of the illegal activities allegedly being conducted inside the 3 residential units.

Using a hidden camera, the lawman, who posed as an applicant for computer technician, was able to capture the suspects’ operation through video and photos.

Police confiscated 21 computer sets, 2 laptops, 6 modems, a Samsung smart phone, and several boxes of mobile phone SIM cards.

Charges for alleged violation of RA 8484 in relation to RA 10175 were being prepared against the arrested persons as of filing. – Rappler.com