4 foreign casino scammers flee PHL despite hold departure order

Four members of a Singaporean syndicate allegedly involved in a P150-million scam in government casinos were allowed to leave the Philippines despite hold departure orders issued by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) bared Monday. PAGCOR legal counsel Jay Daniel Santiago said at a hearing at the House of Representatives that the four foreigners managed to slip past Immigration officials even after they were charged with estafa and barred from leaving the Philippines. “From our checking, they [the Singaporean nationals] are no longer in the country. We were able to obtain a hold departure order... Despite that, they were able to escape," he said at a House committee on games and amusement hearing. The hearing was on the alleged misuse of funds by PAGCOR’s previous administration. The Singaporean nationals, one of whom was identified as Ben Lui, were arrested last May while cheating in a baccarat card game in the PAGCOR casino in Parañaque by using cameras hidden under the sleeves of their coats. Santiago said the suspects were slapped with a P150-million syndicated estafa case before the Parañaque City Prosecutor’s Office upon their arrest. They, however, were able to post bail after the city fiscal downgraded the case to simple estafa. The PAGCOR lawyer likewise said he thought the local court’s decision was not valid, but their camp did not file appeal the ruling. Negligence Iloilo Rep. Niel Tupas Jr. said the House committee on justice, which he chairs, should investigate why the four managed to escape despite hold departure orders from the DOJ. “It appears that there is some sort of negligence [on the part of] some agencies of the government namely the Bureau of Immigration and the DOJ," he said during the hearing. Manila Rep. Amado Bagatsing, chair of the House committee on games and amusement, meanwhile, said the chamber should also look into the possible connivance among PAGCOR officials and members of the syndicate. “We feel that there’s more to this, that there are people behind this syndicate. This could not have happened without the participation of a lot of people involved here," he said. Zambales Rep. Milagros Magsaysay, for her part, criticized PAGCOR officials for their supposed “inaction" that allowed the members of the syndicate to escape from the Philippines. “It is very clear that you filed a case but it was too late. It is also very clear that the DOJ downgraded the case from syndicated estafa to simple estafa yet you did not raise a howl of protest. I don’t know if there is a cover-up on the part of the PAGCOR or the DOJ," she told PAGCOR officials during the hearing. Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, House justice panel vice-chairperson, meanwhile said that their committee will conduct an investigation on the matter within the month. — KBK, GMA News