Jack Lam sends surrender feelers

MANILA, Philippines – Fugitive Chinese businessman Jack Lam, operator of the illegal online gaming firm at the Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga, has offered to surrender.

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Ronald dela Rosa disclosed yesterday that Lam had sent feelers for his return to the Philippines.

President Duterte had earlier ordered the PNP to arrest Lam and retired police general Wally Sombero for alleged attempted bribery and economic sabotage.

Dela Rosa said Lam could also be held liable for employing foreigners without proper documents.

Duterte ordered the arrest of Lam after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) chair Andrea Domingo claimed the camp of Lam, through Sombero, attempted to bribe them and evade paying taxes to the government.

Dela Rosa said Fontana was closed recently while another Lam-operated casino in Fort Ilocandia in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte will also be closed.

Dela Rosa added the Fontana gaming area was closed by virtue of an order coming from the President and implemented by Pagcor together with PNP personnel.

Lam left for Hong Kong last Thursday before Duterte ordered his arrest.

Chinese workers post bail

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) said 500 of the detained 1,316 Chinese employees of the alleged illegal online gambling operations at Fontana were released after posting of bail bonds.

The Chinese were among the workers without proper work permits who were rounded up by BI and Pampanga policemen last Nov. 23.

Karen Domingo-Gandamra, chief of the BI’s one-stop-shop in the free port, said the freed Chinese nationals “seemed very rich” since some of them use expensive cars and could even afford to rent apartments despite the shutdown of the Fontana casino .

“Some of them drove expensive cars, including a Porsche, when they arrived at my office for biometrics and photos,” said Gandamra, daughter of the Pagcor chair.

She said that 500 of the Chinese are now free but could not yet leave the country after the BI issued alert notices against them in airports and seaports nationwide.

The Chinese employees worked at Next Games, an outsourcing facility for online gambling that was part of Lam’s Fontana casino operations.

Gandamra could not immediately say how much bail they posted on charges of violation of immigration laws.

“Some of them opted to stay on at the Fontana convention center where they were initially held, together with the rest of their compatriots. Others are just around in Pampanga and they seem to be rich enough to sustain their needs,” she added. - With Edu Punay, Louella Desiderio, Paolo Romero, Jun Elias, Jaime Laude