The alleged bagman for gambling operator Jack Lam has returned to the Philippines to face questioning by an inquiry looking into bribery of government officials.

Former Philippine police official Wenceslao ‘Wally’ Sombrero (pictured) returned to the Philippines on Tuesday from Vancouver, where he had fled following allegations that he offered bribes on Lam’s behalf to Philippine Bureau of Immigration (BI) officials and Department of Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II.

The bribe offers were allegedly made to secure the release of over 1,300 Chinese nationals arrested last November for working at an unauthorized online gambling operation linked to Lam’s Fontana Casino in the Clark Freeport. Sombrero allegedly spoke on behalf of Lam during meetings with Aguirre, as Lam speaks neither English nor Tagalog.

Two days after the workers’ arrests, Sombrero was caught on surveillance video delivering paper bags allegedly containing P50m (US $1m) to two BI officials. Sombrero, who claimed his actions were part of an elaborate sting operation, turned himself in to answer police questions despite expressing concerns that unspecified villains would try to kill him for speaking of the incident.