An Isle of Man immigration appeal has underlined the increasingly sharp scrutiny being applied to prior industry associations, after a Philippine national was refused entry clearance for a role with a local gaming company due to his previous employment with a firm allegedly linked to Chinese organized crime.
Tiejun Zhao had been offered a position with Isle of Man based A2D Entertainment in May of last year. He subsequently applied for entry clearance as a worker migrant, with his family applying as dependents. However, the Isle of Man Immigration Office refused the application, citing concerns over Zhao’s former role at Yabo, a company which open-source material has been associated with human trafficking and illegal gambling operations connected to a Chinese criminal organization.
Zhao, whose CV listed his most recent position as head of payment at Yabo in Pasay City, Philippines, from November 2021 to August 2024, appealed the decision. His appeal has now been dismissed.
In his determination, immigration adjudicator James Brooks said he was “entirely satisfied” that the prospective Isle of Man employer had not knowingly sought to recruit an individual whose presence would pose a risk to the public. Nonetheless, Brooks concluded that the Immigration Office was entitled to determine that Zhao had held a senior role, for a considerable period, within an organization of which “the criminality of which was widely publicized.”
Brooks further stated it was clear that Yabo was “up to no good” during the period of Zhao’s employment.
The Immigration Office indicated it had conducted open-source research indicating that Yabo operated under the auspices of a Chinese criminal organization. Zhao did not dispute the characterization of Yabo’s alleged links but maintained that he had no knowledge of any criminal conduct and had neither witnessed nor participated in unlawful activity.
A “minded to refuse” notice was issued on July 4th, stating that Zhao’s associations with Yabo rendered his presence in the Isle of Man not conducive to the public good.
In response, Zhao confirmed he had resigned from Yabo and had fully separated from the company. He argued that his role as head of payment did not involve strategic, commercial or external-facing responsibilities, and that he had no involvement in any criminal enterprise.
On appeal, Zhao’s legal representatives contended that the Immigration Office had made an “unsupported leap” from the fact of his relatively senior position to an assumption of complicity. They argued there was no reliable or cogent evidence of personal wrongdoing.
Citing Home Office guidance, his lawyer submitted that “mere association,” even with a gang or known criminal, is insufficient to meet the public good threshold. Open-source media reporting, they argued, did not meet the standard of being “sufficiently reliable” evidence.
The Immigration Office, for its part, maintained that the scale of Yabo’s alleged criminality, combined with Zhao’s significant association with the organization, constituted a “clear and obvious risk” to the island.
In dismissing the appeal, Brooks acknowledged there was “undoubtedly” no direct evidence that Zhao himself had engaged in criminal conduct. However, he found that Zhao had sought to distance himself from what appeared to have been a senior position within a company whose criminality was well documented and which has since been dissolved.
The case is likely to resonate within the Isle of Man’s online gambling sector, which in recent years has faced increased regulatory and reputational pressure, including a contraction in license numbers and heightened scrutiny around anti-money laundering controls. It also highlights the degree to which immigration and regulatory risk considerations are increasingly intertwined, particularly where applicants have prior links to entities operating in higher-risk jurisdictions or grey-market environments.
