PAOCC employee caught stealing BPO worker’s phone

MANILA, Philippines — After the viral slapping incident, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission figured in another controversy after a PAOCC employee reportedly stole the phone of a worker of the raided business process outsourcing firm in Bagac, Bataan.

PAOCC executive director Gilbert Cruz said the employee is undergoing administrative investigation.

Cruz said he would not hesitate to have the employee jailed if the investigation finds him liable.

The incident reportedly occurred during the raid on Central One. Footage from closed-circuit television cameras showed the PAOCC worker taking the phone, unaware that the owner saw him.

The suspect returned the phone after the owner confronted him.

Deportation order

Meanwhile, Malacañang has ordered the deportation of 42 foreigners arrested during the raid on Central One.

Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) to deport the foreigners who were found working at Central One PH Inc. in Barangay Parang.

The raid stemmed from reports that Central One was an illegal Philippine offshore gaming operator hub.

In a memorandum dated Nov. 12, Bersamin ordered the DOJ and the BI to facilitate the summary deportation of the foreigners and transfer them to a temporary detention facility in Pasay City.

He ordered the blacklisting of the foreigners to prevent them from reentering the country.

However, only one foreigner, an Indonesian accused of amassing 900 billion rupees or P3.3 billion in online scams, remains under the custody of the government.

The rest were granted provisional liberty by the BI after Bataan Rep. Albert Garcia guaranteed the release on recognizance  of the foreigners last week.

A security official who spoke on condition of anonymity said eight of the foreigners, including six Brazilians and two Malaysians, have left for Cebu on a private plane.

A passenger manifest seen by The STAR showed the foreigners left Luzon on Nov. 8.