PNP: Que ransom tracked on e-wallets of 2 casino junket operators
The Philippine National Police headquarters in Camp Crame (Photo from Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines — The ransom money paid by the family of Chinese-Filipino businessman Anson Que to his abductors was tracked by authorities on electronic wallets of two casino junket operators.
That included the one owned by a Chinese businessman allegedly linked to a Philippine offshore gaming operator (Pogo).
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Fajardo identified the two junket operators as White Horse Club and 9 Dynasty Group, which is owned by Li Duan Wang, also known as Mark Ong —a Chinese national from Fujian, China.
Congress earlier approved a bill granting Philippine citizenship to Ong. The measure was vetoed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on April 11, 2025, saying that there would be “dire consequences” and a “clear and present danger” if Ong, with alleged links to Pogo hubs, is granted Philippine citizenship.
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According to Fajardo, Que’s family paid the ransom money from March 31 to April 8. Que is also known as Anson Tan.
“The money was sent to the accounts of two junket operators, Dynasty and White Horse. Eventually, the ransom money was transferred from these accounts, and e-wallets were sent to the crypto wallets,” Fajardo, speaking in Filipino, said in a press briefing on Monday.
How was the money transferred to crypto wallets?
PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group (ACG) acting director Brig. Gen. Bernard Yang said they were able to track where the ransom money went before it ended up in crypto wallets, based on a crypto address given to them by the arrested suspects.
Upon the receipt of the physical money, Yang explained that the kidnappers reportedly looked for casino junket operators to transfer the money to crypto wallets.
In response to this, Yang said the ACG had already sent a subpoena against two local virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and contacted the two others outside the country for a presentation order.
However, Yang opted not to disclose the country where the two other VASPs were located.
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A VASP is an entity that carries out exchanges between various forms of virtual assets and fiat currencies.
“We were waiting for the reply of our counterpart outside the country. Last night we received that a certain amount was already frozen by one VASP,” he added in Filipino.
So far, Yang said the VASP outside the Philippines was able to freeze several accounts containing ransom money of $79,000 (P4.379 million).
Asked about the total amount of ransom money that went through several e-wallets and crypto wallets, PNP chief Gen. Rommel Marbil opted to withhold the information so as not to compromise the ongoing investigation.
9 Dynasty Group operations
Fajardo said Ong reportedly used many aliases and front companies to hide his real identity and illegal operations. She added that Ong transferred to the Philippines in 1991 to build a company connected to gaming, IT support, real estate, and cryptocurrency.
Aside from the Philippines, Fajardo said the 9 Dynasty Group’s reach extends to Cambodia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Its services include 9D Gaming (gambling); 9D Bank or Agent (money transfer); and 9D Guarantee (crypto exchange).
Fajardo revealed that 9 Dynastry Group’s transactions were all done through applications and websites, adding that it has no clear license to operate from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas and the Anti-Money Laundering Council.
