Philippine senate says Jack Lam is a victim, not a criminal

Philippine casino and online gambling operator Jack Lam likely won’t face criminal charges for bribery after all, according to the head of a Senate committee investigating the allegations.

Thursday saw the fifth and final public hearing by the Senate blue ribbon committee investigating last November’s arrest of over 1,300 Chinese nationals deemed to be working illegally at an unauthorized online gambling operation at Lam’s Fontana Casino in the Clark Freeport.

The arrests were swiftly followed by reports of meetings between Lam, his associates and various government officials, including Bureau of Immigration (BI) agents Al Argosino and Michael Robles and Department of Justice secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

The BI agents were accused of extorting P50m (US $1m) from Lam through a middleman, former police superintendent Wally Sombrero, to secure the release of the arrested Chinese workers. Sombrero was also accused of offering Aguirre a bribe on Lam’s behalf during a meeting with Aguirre.