Plunder raps filed vs BI execs in casino bribe

MANILA, Philippines - Former Bureau of Immigration intelligence chief Charles Calima yesterday filed plunder and graft complaints against former BI deputy commissioners Al Argosino and Michael Robles stemming from the P50-million bribe scandal.

Calima filed the complaint before the Office of the Ombudsman, denying the claims made by Argosino and Robles that their receipt of supposed bribe money from casino operator Jack Lam was part of their investigation on illegal online gambling operations.

Calima accused the two resigned immigration officials of plunder and graft.

Calima said Argosino and Robles’ equal sharing of P24 million each from the P50 million given by Lam is an indication that the two officials were the only ones involved in the extortion anomaly.

“This only proves that the extortion incident was only for the benefit of the two and that the names of people that they have been namedropping to make it appear to the Chinese that they were just emissaries negotiating for the extortion demand was just the creation of their imagination,” Calima said.

“In truth and in fact, the extortion attempt was just for their own benefit, as shown by the equal sharing which they did to the money,” he added.

Argosino and Robles had earlier claimed that they only got P30 million out of the P50 million paid out by Lam.

The two officials claimed P18 million of the bribe money was taken by Calima while the remaining P2 million went to retired police general Wally Sombero, supposedly acting on Lam’s behalf.

The P50 million that Lam shelled out was supposedly for the release of 1,316 Chinese nationals working at his Fontana Leisure Parks and Casino in Clark, Pampanga.?The BI arrested the Chinese nationals last Nov. 24 on charges of overstaying and other violations of immigration laws.?Argosino and Robles had returned P30 million to the Department of Justice.

Calima, for his part, surrendered P18 million of the bribe money.

Sombero also turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman the P2 million he admittedly deducted from the P50-million bribe money.

Sombero also filed before the ombudsman a supplemental affidavit to support the graft complaint that he filed last week against Argosino and Robles.

Though he deducted the P2 million from Lam’s payout, Sombero said the money remained “untouched.”

He said he decided to keep the money as evidence in the case that he and Calima were building against Argosino and Robles.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente, on the other hand, has yet to turn over the P20 million. He was ordered by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II to surrender the money within 24 hours from Wednesday.

Morente failed to deliver the amount and explained he could not get the money from Calima, who was dismissed from the BI last Dec. 13.

“However, General Calima has apprised me that he has filed a complaint with the CIDG for plunder against the two associate commissioners. Together with his filing, he turned over the two paper bags to the said office, which after accounting, revealed the amount of P18 million,” Morente said.

Morente’s report, however, made no mention of the remaining P2 million from the P50-million bribe money.

Aguirre said he was not satisfied with Morente’s explanation.

“That excuse is unacceptable. I am not satisfied with the reply and explanation,” he said.

“If he knew about the supposed operations all along, he should’ve asked Calima to surrender the money when he was still with the bureau,” Aguirre pointed out.

After receiving Morente’s report, Aguirre immediately asked the police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) under Chief Supt. Roel Obusan to turn over the P18 million surrendered by Calima.

Aguirre also asked Obusan to furnish the DOJ “copies of all documents and evidence submitted by Gen. Calima as well as the result of your investigation, initial or otherwise, which will be used to augment the NBI’s parallel probe.” 

Denial

In his complaint, Calima denied receiving any amount from Lam’s payout.?Calima said he even launched an intelligence investigation on the anomaly after being informed about it by Sombero last Nov. 25.?“At around 10 in the evening of Nov. 25, 2016 Wally Sombero called me on the phone to report that someone informed him that there were some Bureau of Immigration officials who were, in his words ‘humihingi ng areglo’ (wanted an arrangement) in connection with the arrest of 1,316 Chinese nationals who were arrested the day before in Fontana Leisure Park in Clark Field, Angeles, Pampanga,” Calima said in his complaint.

“I subsequently informed Commissioner Morente about this report and he gave his clearance that we now proceed with the CI (counter intelligence) operation,” Calima added.?Calima said that based on his succeeding conversations with Sombero, Argosino and Robles got P50 million from Lam on Nov. 27 but the two officials were still asking for another P50 million.?”When we met again, he (Sombero) narrated to me everything that transpired in the meeting and he said that Argosino was very insistent on getting the additional P50 million, together with the around P35 million to pay for the bail of around 600 Chinese nationals,” the complaint read.

Calima attached in his complaint his exchanges of supposed text messages with Sombero.

He also attached a memorandum from the Philippine National Police for the temporary custody of P18 million that his team supposedly retrieved from Argosino and Robles. – With Edu Punay