A Philippine court on Thursday sentenced Alice Guo, a Chinese national who masqueraded as a Filipina to become a mayor, and seven others to life in prison on human trafficking charges, state prosecutors said.
Guo, who held office in a town north of Manila, was found guilty of running a Chinese-operated online gambling centre where hundreds of people were allegedly forced to carry out scams under threat of torture.
The sprawling complex, which included office buildings, luxury villas, and a large swimming pool, was raided in March 2024 after a Vietnamese worker escaped and alerted authorities. Over 700 individuals from the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Rwanda were found on-site, alongside documents indicating that Guo was president of the company owning the compound.
All eight defendants, some of whom were foreign nationals, received life sentences, state prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas told reporters outside a regional courthouse in Manila. “After over a year, the court… gave us a favourable decision. Alice (Guo) was convicted along with seven other co-accused. Life imprisonment,” she said, declining to name the co-defendants due to confidentiality laws.
A spokesman for the Philippine Anti-Organized Crime Commission said Guo and three others were convicted of organising trafficking within the compound, while four additional defendants were found guilty of acts of trafficking.
Guo, 35, had fled the Philippines and was arrested by Indonesian police in September 2024. Although elected mayor of Bamban town, a Manila court ruled in June that as a Chinese citizen, she was never eligible for the position. The Chinese embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case highlights the rapid expansion of transnational scam operations in Southeast Asia, which UN reports estimate involved up to $37 billion in losses in 2023, with actual global losses likely far higher. The industry flourished in the Philippines under former President Rodrigo Duterte, who had allowed licensed operations nationwide.
Following public outrage over the Guo case, President Ferdinand Marcos announced a ban on offshore gambling operations in 2024, ordering foreign nationals working at the sites to leave the country.
AFP
