{"id":263001,"date":"2023-03-07T04:04:58","date_gmt":"2023-03-07T10:04:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=263001"},"modified":"2023-03-17T15:55:32","modified_gmt":"2023-03-17T20:55:32","slug":"gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/","title":{"rendered":"Okada Manila Gambler Kidnapped, Held for Unpaid Loan Sharks Debt"},"content":{"rendered":"

A gambler borrowed funds from loan sharks to fuel his gambling habit. When he couldn\u2019t pay them back, they kidnapped him and held him in a room at the Okada Manila<\/a> casino.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Okada Manila resort in the Philippines at night. A gambler who owed money to the wrong people was kidnapped and held in a room at the resort. (Image: Pinterest)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Five Chinese nationals kidnapped the unidentified man and locked him temporarily in the hotel room, according to the Philippine media outlet Inquirer<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n

Their plan included taking him elsewhere for reasons the authorities still try to ascertain. As the five criminals led him out the casino door, he could signal a guard, who came to his rescue. Outside the casino, a car was waiting for the group. From there, the destination is unknown.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The unidentified man reportedly owed around PHP500,000 (US$9,090).<\/p>\n

Kidnapping Reports<\/h2>\n

There has been an increase in kidnappings linked to the Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) last year, despite an overall drop in reported cases.<\/p>\n

\n

There were 31 kidnappings during the first nine months of 2022 in the Philippines, compared to 36 in the same period the year before. Of these, 17 were POGO-related, five more than in 2021. Those cases included 19 Chinese victims and others from Vietnam and Taiwan. In almost all scenarios, Chinese criminal gangs were behind the activity.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR<\/a>), the Philippines\u2019 gaming regulator and state-run casino operator, has argued that none of the licensed POGOs had anything to do with the crimes. Instead, the operators already lost their licenses or voluntarily gave them up.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers continue to push for eliminating the POGO industry because of its relationship to criminal activity.<\/p>\n

Casino Revenue on the Rise<\/h2>\n

Gambling revenue in the country is rising, and the relaxation of COVID-19-induced travel restrictions means more international traffic throughout Asia.<\/p>\n

The casino segment in the Philippines continued to grow in the fourth quarter of last year, generating around PHP56.01 billion (US$1.02 billion) in gross gaming revenue (GGR). This beat the previous quarter by 13.5 % and marks a 96.2% jump from a year earlier.<\/p>\n

The overall handle of the segment reached almost PHP184.00 billion (US$3.34 billion). This was 90.6% greater than the same period in 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A gambler borrowed funds from loan sharks to fuel his gambling habit. When he couldn\u2019t pay them back, they kidnapped him and held him in a room at the Okada Manila casino. Five Chinese nationals kidnapped the unidentified man and locked him temporarily in the hotel room, according to the Philippine media outlet Inquirer. Their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":263000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69069,21],"tags":[81913,13363,13520],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOkada Manila Gambler Kidnapped, Held for Unpaid Loan Sharks Debt - Casino.org<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Gambler kidnapped and held at Okada Manila in the Philippines for not paying debt to loan sharks, but a security guard rescued him.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Okada Manila Gambler Kidnapped, Held for Unpaid Loan Sharks Debt - Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Gambler kidnapped and held at Okada Manila in the Philippines for not paying debt to loan sharks, but a security guard rescued him.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-03-07T10:04:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-17T20:55:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/The-Okada-Manila-resort-in-the-Philippines-at-night.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"960\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"681\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erik Gibbs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/\",\"name\":\"Okada Manila Gambler Kidnapped, Held for Unpaid Loan Sharks Debt - Casino.org\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/The-Okada-Manila-resort-in-the-Philippines-at-night.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-03-07T10:04:58+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-17T20:55:32+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/21bf33e35290a1da9c572298dac6b7ca\"},\"description\":\"Gambler kidnapped and held at Okada Manila in the Philippines for not paying debt to loan sharks, but a security guard rescued him.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/gambler-kidnapped-held-at-okada-manila-for-not-paying-debt-to-loan-sharks\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/The-Okada-Manila-resort-in-the-Philippines-at-night.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/The-Okada-Manila-resort-in-the-Philippines-at-night.jpg\",\"width\":960,\"height\":681,\"caption\":\"The Okada Manila resort in the Philippines. 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