Philippines police raided an office of a crypto scam that was supposedly targeting investors in China according to a Sept. 15 report.
Cointelegraph reported that “agents from the Bureau of Immigration, the Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission and the National Police’s Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group raided the offices of Grapefruit Services Inc. in Pasig City on Sept. 11.”
227 employees of the firm were arrested while canceling all their passports, making them illegal workers in the Philippines. All the arrested employees are Chinese nationals.
Special Economic Zone in the Philippines
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Grapefruit, is operated under a license from the “Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA).” CEZA is a special economic zone managed by the Phillipines government that “aims to attract foreign and local investment”.
Philippines government allowed cryptocurrency firms to run from April 2018 in the special economic zone.
Inquirer.net reported that Grapefruit was operating from a non-designated zone thus violating the regulations under the Philippines government.