National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Jaime Santiago announced the filing of charges against three Filipinos and two Chinese nationals whom he said are being paid from P2,500 to P3,000 per day for spying activities in Metro Manila.
Arrested and charged with violation of R.A. 10175 (Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012) and Commonwealth Act No. 616 (Espionage) before the Department of Justice (DOJ) were Omar Khan Kashin Joveres, Leo Laraya Panti, Mark Angelo Boholst Binza and Chinese nationals Ni Qinhui and his wife Zheng Wei. It was Qinhui who reportedly recruited the three Filipinos.
Santiago said the five individuals were arrested on February 20, 2025. The three Filipinos were said to have been commissioned by Qinhu to drive vehicles with installed ‘unauthorized International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) catchers’ that do signal intelligence based on “intel packet’ from the intelligence service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Just this February 14, 2025, the NBI-Cybercrime Division (CCD) and NBI-Special Task Force (STF) were alerted regarding vehicles suspected of using IMSI catchers, frequenting military and police camps and some essential systems, facilities and national government assets within Metro Manila.
A verification by the CCD and STF Agents on the information confirmed spying activities that include the use of unlicensed ‘Rogue BTS’ which is an unathorized base station which can be manipulated by a legitimate cellular tower in order to intercept, manipulate or disrupt mobile network communications. This is often used for unauthorized surveillance, eavesdropping, data theft and network disruption.
Owing to the threat to national security and the ‘people’s right to privacy’ of the said spying instruments, the NBI conducted an operation which resulted in the arrest of the five suspects.
