Katherine Cassandra Li Ong, known as Cassy, acted as the point person for the leasing company Whirlwind and the Lucky South 99 Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO), both of which are under investigation after a government raid revealed evidence of massive scamming, trafficking and torture1. She appeared before a House quad committee hearing on August 28, 2024, where she was questioned about her role in the operations1.
Ong, 24, was born on May 23, 2000, in San Juan City in Metro Manila to Chinese parents Richard Ong Chao Hong and Ying Xia Li1. She became the point person of Whirlwind, which was incorporated in Porac, Pampanga, in 2019 by her godfather, a Chinese national named Duanren Wu1. While Ong is not an incorporator of either Whirlwind or Lucky South 99, she is known to the staff of both, and often acted as translator for Wu, according to Stephanie Mascareñas, an incorporator of both companies1. When Lucky South 99's remittances to the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) were not paid and the company sought a new gaming license, it was Ong who spoke to Pagcor, discussions that Pagcor officials told Congress were set up by former presidential spokesperson Harry Roque1.
The Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC) described the Bamban and Porac hubs as the biggest it had dismantled, and PAOCC spokesperson Winston Casio told the Senate in June that the masterminds were "no ordinary criminals"1. Ong has been charged with disobedience to authority and obstruction of justice, both bailable offenses1. She was arrested in Indonesia along with Shiela Guo, the sister of dismissed Bamban mayor Alice Guo, when the two were trying to return from Batam to Singapore1. Ong is the girlfriend of another Guo sibling, Wesley Guo, and joined Alice Guo in a motorcade in January during the Bamban festival, according to Senator Risa Hontiveros1.
"Ong, 24 years old, acted as the point person of Whirlwind and the Lucky South 99 POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operator), which are being investigated after a government raid revealed evidence of massive scamming, trafficking, and torture."
Ong's lawyer, Ferdinand Topacio, has threatened to reveal material about the Marcos administration and to sue the Department of Justice for arresting Ong in Indonesia without a warrant1. After the hearing, Ong avoided a proposal to send her to the Correctional Institute for Women and will instead stay within the House premises under its custody until the quad-committee inquiry ends1.
What it means for players
The raid and the inquiry concern POGOs, the offshore operators that served customers abroad from bases in the Philippines. The evidence described in the investigation, scamming, trafficking and torture, relates to the operations inside the raided hubs rather than to licensed domestic gambling, but it sits alongside a wider crackdown on offshore online gambling hubs in Asia that has closed or disrupted many sites. For anyone gambling in the Philippines, the practical effect is that offshore sites tied to these hubs have been shut or are under investigation, and money or account balances held with them may be unrecoverable. The inquiry has also named individuals and companies connected to the hubs, which is relevant to gambling scams in the Philippines and to the wider picture of where scam compounds operate across the region. The legal status of gambling in the country is set out in the Philippines gambling guide, and the regional position in gambling laws in Asia.
What happens next
The House quad-committee inquiry into the Bamban and Porac POGOs continues, with Ong held in House custody until it ends1. Ong's charges of disobedience to authority and obstruction of justice are bailable1. Topacio has said he will sue the Department of Justice over Ong's arrest in Indonesia without a warrant, and has threatened to release material involving the Marcos administration1. No date has been reported for the next hearing or for a resolution of the charges.
