A Philippine court on Thursday sentenced 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, state prosecutors said.

Guo, who served as mayor of a town north of Manila, was found guilty of overseeing an online gambling centre where hundreds of people were forced to run scams or risk torture.

The sprawling complex, which included office buildings, luxury villas and a large swimming pool, was raided in March 2024 after a Vietnamese worker escaped and called police. More than 700 Filipinos, Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysians, Indonesians and Rwandans were found on site.

All eight defendants, some of whom were foreign nationals, were sentenced to life in prison, state prosecutor Olivia Torrevillas said outside a regional courthouse in Manila.

Guo, 35, was arrested by Indonesian police in September 2024 after fleeing the Philippines.

Although she was elected mayor of Bamban town, the site of the scam centre, a Manila court ruled in June that as a Chinese citizen Guo was never eligible for the position.

The transnational scam industry has ballooned in Southeast Asia in recent years, with thousands of scammers estimated to be involved. (AFP)