Indonesia arrests fugitive Philippine mayor wanted for fraud schemes – The Diplomat

A fired mayor who left the Philippines after being accused of helping set up an illegal online gambling and fraud hub that primarily targeted customers in China was arrested near the Indonesian capital, officials said Wednesday.

Indonesian authorities arrested Alice Guo in a house in Jakarta's satellite city of Tangerang shortly before midnight on Tuesday, according to Khrisna Murti, head of the national police's international division. Guo is in custody awaiting deportation to the Philippines, Murti said, adding that her arrest was the result of “cooperation between Indonesian and Philippine police.”

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. thanked the Indonesian authorities.

“This should serve as a warning to all those who seek to evade justice,” Marcos said, adding that preparations were being made to return Guo to the Philippines, where she faces a number of criminal charges.

After fleeing the Philippines in July, Guo was tracked in Malaysia and Singapore before turning up in Indonesia. Two companions who reportedly left the Philippines with her without going through the usual immigration and customs formalities were recently arrested in Indonesia.

Guo ran as a Philippine candidate in the 2022 election and won as mayor of the rural town of Bamban in Tarlac province, north of Manila. She was accused of helping to build a massive multi-building complex near City Hall as a hub for an illegal online gambling and fraud operation that primarily targeted customers in China, where gambling is banned.

A Senate committee ordered Guo's arrest after she refused to appear at hearings on the illegal gambling business that flourished under Marcos' predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who maintained good relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping while frequently criticizing the United States and European countries.

Guo was also accused of concealing her Chinese nationality in order to run for a public office reserved exclusively for Filipino citizens. At the time, some senators suspected that she might be working as a Chinese spy.

Guo denied any wrongdoing but was dismissed from her post for serious misconduct by the Ombudsman, an agency that investigates and prosecutes government officials accused of crimes such as bribery and corruption.

In July, Marcos ordered an immediate ban on widespread online gambling companies run predominantly by Chinese, accusing them of involvement in human trafficking, torture, kidnapping and murder.

The crackdown on Chinese-run online gambling companies – estimated to number over 400 in the Philippines and employing tens of thousands of Chinese and Southeast Asians – has been supported by Beijing.

This led to the closure of huge factory complexes in the Philippines. Authorities suspect that thousands of Chinese, Vietnamese and other nationals, especially from Southeast Asia, were illegally recruited and forced to work under deplorable conditions.

Philippine senators say the boom in the giant online gambling industry is largely due to corruption in government regulators and large bribes to officials.

Indonesia and the Philippines signed an extradition agreement in 1976.