MANILA – Cassandra Li Ong, the documented representative of controversial Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) Lucky South 99, was last tracked in Japan following her release from detention, the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) said.
PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio in a news forum in Quezon City over the weekend that Ong traveled abroad earlier this year. An Interpol red notice has been issued for her.
“[Ong] was last tracked in Japan… I am pretty certain it was the first quarter of this year,” Casio said. “She left around January.”
Ong is currently wanted on an arrest warrant issued by the Pampanga Regional Trial Court in May for qualified human trafficking, in connection with alleged scam hub operations linked to Lucky South 99.
PAOCC’s confirmation came after Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian told a Senate panel that Ong had been released from the Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) in Mandaluyong City and was now “at large.”
Ong was first cited in contempt by the House Quad Committee investigating POGO-related crimes in September last year. She was later ordered detained at the CIW.
Casio explained that Ong’s detention was based on the contempt order issued by the Quad Committee, but that the order expired when the 19th Congress adjourned.
“When the lifespan of the 19th Congress has already ended, she can no longer be detained because the authority of the Congress which cited her in contempt is already over,” Casio said.
“So they are duty bound to release her… There was no arrest warrant yet at that time. It was sometime in December when she was released by Quadcom,” he added.
Since her release, Casio said the PAOCC, along with the Philippine National Police – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Department of Justice – National Bureau of Investigation, has been monitoring Ong’s movements.
“Our last tracked movement of hers was in Japan… after that we have no more idea where she went,” he said.
Asked if Ong traveled to other countries, Casio responded, “That we are not privy anymore so now we have to backtrack everything with regard to her movement.”/PN
