The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (PAGCOR), that country’s gaming regulator, continues to pursue a refund from a third-party auditor it contracted to oversee Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs).
As reported by Inside Asian Gaming, Global ComRCI, hired in 2017 to monitor the revenues of licensed POGOs, was paid PHP1 billion (US$17.6 million) before it was deemed to have used fraudulent documentation to get the contract. Global ComRCI allegedly falsified its certification from the New York branch of Soleil Chartered Bank to demonstrate that it met PAGCOR’s capital requirements.
“We are coordinating with the Office of the Solicitor General to go after this private company,” said PAGCOR Chairman Alejandro Tengco in comments before legislators on August 14. “The PHP1 billion collected from PAGCOR must be returned because from Day 1, their contract is null and void.”
The Commission on Audit (COA) is currently overseeing the offshore industry on an interim basis as the search for a new auditor continues.
“Under our laws, POGO licensees cannot operate without an independent auditor,” Tengco said. “We wrote a letter to the Department of Justice to ask if we can tap COA as auditor for our overseas gaming licensees, and the DOJ said such is allowed.
“Now, it is COA handling the auditing for overseas gaming licensees, and this decision has enabled the government to save at least PHP5.8 billion (US$102 million).”
