The Philippines top law enforcement official has accused gambling operator Jack Lam of attempting to bribe both himself and the head of the country’s gaming regulatory agency.

On Tuesday, Philippines Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II (pictured left) claimed that authorities had rejected significant bribes seeking the release of the 1,316 Chinese nationals arrested last week for illegally working at an unauthorized online gambling operation in the Clark Freeport Zone.

On Wednesday, the Inquirer quoted Aguirre directly accusing Lam (pictured right), the operator of the Fontana Casino in Clark Freeport and the founder of Macau junket operator Jimei Group, of attempting to bribe him two days following the arrests of the Chinese online gambling workers.

Aguirre said the bribe was offered via two interpreters and former police officer Wally Sombrero during a meeting with Lam at Bonifacio Global City. Lam reportedly told Aguirre that he was looking for a ‘ninong’ aka godfather to protect his Philippine gambling operations, which include the Ford Ilocandia casino in Ilocos Norte province and the online gambling business at the Fontana venue.