House to summon ‘dead’ syndicate leader to casino scam probe

The committee on games and amusement at the House of Representatives will summon to its next investigation the leader of a Singaporean casino syndicate who was earlier reported dead. Deputy Minority Leader Milagros Magsaysay said the committee will invite Loo Choon Beng — also known as Ben Lui — to its investigation following reports that the syndicate leader was seen in the vicinity of the Cagayan Export Zone Authority. "There is a need to determine the real amount that Lui’s syndicate got from the government," Magsaysay said in a statement Thursday. Manila Rep. Amado Bagasting, the panel’s chairperson, last month asked the National Bureau of Investigation to ascertain what really happened to Loo Choon Beng, who earlier reports said died in Macau last August. The Singaporean national, along with three others, was slapped with estafa for his involvement in a P150-million scam by cheating in card games in government-run casinos. He, however, was able to flee the country. Magsaysay said the committee will also invite Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) officials during the next hearing, which has yet to be scheduled, to find out if some of them really received bribes from the syndicate. "Government officials should also be made accountable and the PAGCOR insiders who may be in connivance with the syndicate should be held responsible," she said. Dasmariñas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga, who filed the House resolution that led to the investigation, said the panel should take “very seriously" the allegations of bribery among PAGCOR officials, saying they may be depriving the government of revenue. “As a result of the cheating done in its casinos, the state thru PAGCOR was deprived of its rightful revenues which could have been used to fund government projects," he said. Other witnesses who will be invited to the next probe are Loo Choon Beng’s supposed girlfriend, Maria Zerra Hao, and his assistant, Redin Capilan. — Andreo C. Calonzo/KBK, GMA News