Philippines Vice President Leni Robredo resigned on Sunday, after publicly denouncing Duterte’s extrajudicial killings and controversial “anti-crime” crusade.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\nAnd in late November, the Philippines detained over 1,300 Chinese citizens working at Lam’s Fontana casino.<\/p>\n
Rotten to the PAGCOR<\/h2>\n
After taking office in June, Duterte initiated an attack on gambling, including lawful operators offering their products online. PhilWeb paid the costliest price, as Duterte directed PAGCOR not to renew the company’s internet casino licenses for its roughly 300 online cafes.<\/p>\n
But Duterte later eased his crusade against online gambling, citing a lack of appropriate manpower to disrupt such networks as his main reason. The loss of $215 million in annual tax revenue is also thought to have helped change the Philippine president’s stance.<\/p>\n
Though PhilWeb was left in the dark, PAGCOR began accepting and reviewing new online gaming license applications this fall.<\/p>\n
Lam didn’t waste anytime in setting up internet casinos from his Fontana property. He allegedly then offered Domingo one percent of his iGaming revenue in exchange for allowing Fontana’s online gaming to continue during the agency’s review of his license request.<\/p>\n
Philippines Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II says Lam can be arrested without a court warrant, because the crime of “economic sabotage” alleged against him doesn’t require one. It’s the same legal loophole that has allowed Duterte to take a no-holds-barred approach to vigorously going after illicit drug syndicates, but there is no law that fully authorizes Duterte’s legal directives.<\/p>\n
Casino Money Laundering Case Still Under Investigation<\/h2>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>In February, hackers pulled off one of the largest bank heists in world history.<\/p>\nThe US Federal Reserve in Manhattan began moving nearly $1 billion in transfers from the Bangladesh account overseas before a spelling error caught the attention of bank officials in New York. But $81 million had already been successfully sent to unknown criminals.<\/p>\n
It was later discovered that some of the money was laundered through two casinos in the Philippines. This week, Bangladesh announced it would be sharing the findings of its investigation with Duterte’s administration.<\/p>\n
Makati-based Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation played a role in facilitating the movement of the ill-gotten money, and the financial institution was fined $20 million by the Philippines.<\/p>\n
No arrests have been made to date, but the FBI, Interpol, and Bangladesh and Philippines police continue to probe the heist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Chinese citizen Jack Lam is on the run this week after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte ordered his law enforcement agency to arrest the casino operator. Lam is being accused by the president of attempting to bribe Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) Chairman Andrea Domingo, as well as “economic sabotage.” Through his Jimei Group holdings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":42527,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,21,60,18,61],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Philippines Casino Owner on the Lam from Rodrigo Duterte's Hit Squads<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n