Arrest order issued for Lam
Philippine police and officials of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. have closed down two casinos, Jack Lam’s Fontana Leisure Park in Pampanga, and the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel in Laoag City.
The gaming regulator said Fontana and its affiliated establishment are under investigation for “illegal or unlicensed online gaming operations” and the possible use of undocumented laborers.
The Philippine Star reports that PAGCOR agents and local law enforcement shut down the casino operated by fugitive Chinese businessman Jack Lam at the Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark Freeport. Lam, described in news reports as a “casino tycoon” and “gambling lord,” reportedly fled the country November 29 for Hong Kong, though his actual destination and whereabouts remain unknown. Ritchie Nacpil, chief of operations of Clark International Airport Corp., said there is no record of Lam’s departure.
President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Lam arrested on charges of bribery and “economic sabotage,” the Star reported. Lam’s investor’s visa has been cancelled to prevent his return to the country, according to Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II. But Philippine National Police Director General Roland Dela Rosa told reporters Lam has “put out feelers” about a possible return to the country and a surrender to law enforcement.
Duterte said if Lam returns, pays the taxes and stops bribing government officials, he’ll be permitted to reopen his casinos.
The Fontana Convention Center apparently was a holding facility for more than 1,300 Chinese employees who worked at Fontana Park and may have been working illegally in online casinos at the resort.
Lam is a Hong Kong-based trader, as well as executive director and controlling shareholder of the Jimei International Entertainment Group. He allegedly offered bribes to several public officials, including Aguirre and PAGCOR CEO Andrea Domingo, in order to keep his online operations going.
The Jimei Group has distanced itself from Lam, according to the Macau Business Daily. The company issued a statement saying the “incident” in the Philippines “is Dr. Lam’s own personal matter and in no way materially affects or involves the company and its subsidiaries.”
A group called Road Users Protection Advocates said Arthur P. Tugade, former head of the Clark Development Corp., should be looked at as a possible player in the shenanigans. In a statement, RUPA Chairman Ray Junia said Lam’s online casino operations grew in the Clark Freeport Zone on Tugade’s watch.
“We call on the president to investigate Tugade and other CDC officials. This illegal operation would not have happened without the approval, silent or otherwise, of Tugade and his team at the CDC,” he said. “Logic dictates that it was impossible for the CDC not to have noticed a crime was being committed right under their noses. One can only imagine how much Lam was giving CDC back then. His operation went on for years.”
Tugade denied the allegations in a statement, saying he is “an upright man” who “abhors corruption.”
Aguirre has urged Congress to look into speculation that Lam had a “ninong,” also known as a godfather or protector, among the ranks of public officials. Aguirre says a ninong allowed Lam to bring in illegal Chinese workers, run an unlicensed online gaming business and accumulate billions of pesos in unpaid royalties to the government from operations of his Fontana Leisure Park and Casino at Clark Freeport in Pampanga province, the Philippine Inquirer reported.
Aguirre estimates Lam was willing to pay at least P100 million (US$2 million) per month for a powerful ninong in the government.
At least 3,000 illegal Chinese nationals should have been detailed in the raid, he added. About 70 of those arrested reportedly jumped a fence at 3 a.m. to escape. Aguirre has ordered a probe of officials at the Bureau of Immigration in the matter.
Meanwhile, 500 legitimate workers were left jobless following the closure of the Fontana Casino just weeks before Christmas.
