Company misrepresented income from gaming junkets
A team of auditors in the Philippines has criticized the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR) for investing millions in multiple condo units for staff members that later went begging; and for launching a slot parlor in Laoag that has never turned a profit.
According to GGRAsia, in 2008 PAGCOR paid PHP264.6 million (US$5.9 million) to buy 66 condominium units in Parañaque City. By 2013, only 12 units had sold because so few employees qualified for a mortgage.
Auditors also slammed PAGCOR for opening a slot hall in 2013 that led to losses worth about PHP13 million in its opening year. The Plaza Del Norte Slot Machine Arcade in Laoag City has yet to turn a profit; PAGCOR says it may relocate the operations to the nearby Plaza Del Norte Hotel “to better improve its accessibility to clients.”
In addition, auditors noted that millions in income from gaming junkets at luxury hotels in the Philippines had been “erroneously recorded as rental income”; as a result, the money was “not being subjected to mandated contributions,” as required by law.
Despite the shoddy bookkeeping and unsuccessful slot parlor, PAGCOR’S net profit for 2013 amounted to PHP3.09 billion, up 2.3 percent from the previous year, according to official data.
