Alice Guo, who pretended she was a Filipina, recruited foreign nationals to carry out online scams, say prosecutors.A court in the Philippines has sentenced a Chinese woman – who became a local mayor while masquerading as a Philippine citizen – and seven others to life in prison on human trafficking charges, a state prosecutor said.Alice Guo, 35, who served as mayor of a town north of Manila, was found guilty on Thursday of running a Chinese-operated gambling centre where hundreds of people were conscripted to carry out online scams on members of the public.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listState prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas said that Guo – who was arrested in Indonesia in September 2024 after fleeing the Philippines – and seven other defendants would be jailed for life.“After over just one year, the court … gave us a favourable decision. Alice (Guo) was convicted along with seven other co-accused. Life imprisonment,” Torrevillas said outside the regional court in Manila.In March 2024, police raided the sprawling centre linked to Guo, which included office buildings, luxury villas and a large swimming pool, after a Vietnamese worker escaped and alerted police.More than 700 Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, Taiwanese, Indonesians and Rwandans were found at the site, along with documents allegedly showing that Guo was president of a company that owned the compound. Philippines State Prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas, centre, talks to the media on Thursday after the verdict and sentencing of Alice Guo – a Chinese national who became a mayor while masquerading as a Filipina – and seven others to life in prison on human trafficking charges [Jam Sta Rosa/AFP]A spokesperson for the Philippine Anti-Organised Crime Commission told reporters that Guo a …
