Eight Israelis arrested for massive multi-million dollar investment scam

Israelis
Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde introduces some of the suspects to the media today. Picture via Twitter.

Eight Israelis and at least 480 Filipino call centre workers have been arrested for a multi-million dollar online investment scam.

Officers of the police’s Anti Cybercrime Group (ACG) raided three offices in Clark Freeport Zone today (Thursday, June 7) following complaints from Australian and South African victims of the operation.

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The ACG has said the company was involved in a multi-million dollar investment scam targeting Europe, New Zealand, Russia, Australia and South Africa. Victims from these countries were invited to invest in foreign exchange trade, bitcoin and the stock market.

Police chief Director General Oscar Albayalde estimated that the operation, called International Branding Development Marketing, was raking in about $1 million per day. It has been operating in Clark for about two-and-a-half years.

Two retired Australian victims travelled to the Philippines hoping to get their money back.

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Speaking anonymously, one of them said: “This is our life, gone. Our family has gone. Our money has gone. My family is suffering with no money.”

The victim described how she clicked on a bitcoin advertisement on the internet before receiving a call.

“I clicked on the bitcoin and the next thing I got a call from an FTO, asking me for just 250 dollars, and I thought, ‘Ok, you’ll make plenty of money’,” she said.

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The agent then asked her to access her bank account online to place money in other investments.

“They maxed out every other card that I have. Took everything. I have nothing, I can’t even pay my bills.

“I can go to my grave. I can go to my grave with this operation.”

Another victim of the Israelis, a Singaporean-Australian, described how she had lost half a million Australian dollars.

“I just sold my land. It’s for my children, my money, now it’s gone. Just got 100 dollars left. I suffered from the first day and until now, I have not recovered my money,” she said.

The victims said it was the Israeli suspects, all in their twenties, who had used their Filipino workers to conduct the scam.

“They’re young people, in their late twenties and they are filthy rich from making these people con us so that they could all enjoy their life. and look at all these people who are just waiting for their salaries so that they can be coached to con all of us,” one said.

One of the Filipino workers, identified as Rogelio, said: “There were lots of complaints, that we could be raided. Life is hard, it’s difficult to find a job. We were told that what we were entering was regulated, legal. When we came here, we got used to how it’s different. It’s like take it or leave it, you can go.”

The legal counsel of the company has refused to comment and said some disgruntled employees just wanted to ruin the company.

Yesterday, we reported on another foreign fraudster facing justice. Briton Calvin Jason Ainsworth was arrested by the Bureau of Immigration and is set to be deported to the UK where he is wanted for a multi-million online sales scam.

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