The bribery saga involving gaming operator Jack Lam and Philippines officials has now devolved into Rashomon-style variations of significant events.

On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a formal investigation into allegations that Lam bribed Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials to obtain the release of Chinese nationals arrested for working illegally at Lam’s online gambling operation.

Monday brought word that the Department of Justice had video evidence of Lam’s intermediary, former police superintendent Wally Sombrero, giving P50m (US $1m) to two BI commissioners, Al Argosino and Michael Robles, allegedly to obtain the release of 600 of the 1,316 Chinese workers arrested on November 24 at Lam’s Fontana Casino in the Clark Freeport.

Sombrero, who is under the NBI’s protective custody, has denied bribing anyone, and claimed that the BI officials in the video were the instigators of an extortion plot.