PCSO, NBI bust Caloocan lotto outlet fronting for illegal numbers game; teller nabbed

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), in coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), raided an authorized lotto outlet on Wednesday, Nov. 4, after undercover operatives caught the establishment using its government license as a cover to run an illegal numbers racket.

Operatives from the PCSO and the NBI Fraud and Financial Crimes Division (NBI-FFCD), led by Chief Palmer U. Mallari, targeted the authorized lotto outlet located along Block 1, Lot 7, Camarin Road, Almar, Caloocan City.

The crackdown stemmed from a surveillance and test-buy operation where outlet personnel issued illegitimate tickets and accepted bet payments via GCash rather than standard terminal transactions.

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Immediately following the test buy, law enforcers arrested the outlet teller for issuing the illicit slips.

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Authorities confiscated bet money estimated at P5,000, one illegitimate ticket, and a mobile phone utilized for point-of-sale operations, alongside an extensive inventory of gaming hardware and terminal paraphernalia.

An initial inventory of the seized items showed operatives confiscated the establishment’s lotto terminal hardware, including an A10 PC monitor, a central display unit (CDU), an optical scanner, a handheld barcode scanner, a printer, and a network modem.

Also impounded from the premises were 25 rolls of thermal receipt paper, seven boxes of ticket rolls covering major draws, including 3D Lotto, Grand Lotto 6/55, Super Lotto 6/49, and 6D Lotto, along with two agent’s settlement forms, and an abstract of paid and cancelled tickets.

PCSO General Manager Melquiades A. Robles reiterated the agency’s unyielding stance against accredited agents abusing their franchises to facilitate off-the-books gambling.

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“The PCSO maintains a strict zero-tolerance policy for illegal gambling and fraudulent operations,” Robles said. “Every peso spent on legitimate PCSO games goes directly toward funding essential health programs, medical assistance, and charitable services for Filipinos nationwide. Operations that issue unauthorized tickets actively deprive our countrymen of these vital benefits.”

Robles stressed that the state charity agency and the NBI are intensifying joint monitoring of lotto franchises to safeguard state revenues, preserve operational integrity, and protect public trust.

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The PCSO urged the public to place their bets strictly through legitimate terminal networks and report outlets using alternative payment apps or issuing suspicious receipts directly to law enforcement authorities or to the PCSO.