‘Swertres financier’ survives ambush

WHILE out on bail, a businessman suspected to be funding illegal gambling was shot and wounded inside his brand new BMW car while driving on Gen. Maxilom Ave. in Cebu City late yesterday afternoon.

Edgar Lim, 49, was shot by unidentified men in front of the old White Gold building at 5:45 p.m.

He was shot in the stomach and was rushed to a private hospital in Cebu City. He was still in the operating room as of 9 o’clock last night.

No one else was hurt in the shooting. Lim was driving alone. His fighting cocks, which were on the back seat, also survived the attack.

Lim, identified by the police as the second in the target list of illegal gambling financiers operating for years, is out on bail following his arrest by the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) last month.

He is facing a case for violation of Republic Act 9287, or the Act increasing the penalties for illegal numbers game. Swertres is an illegal numbers game.

Lim reportedly operates in the towns of Cebu and earns about P800,000 to P1 million a
day allegedly from the illegal gambling business.

In a phone interview last night, CIB Chief Romeo Santander said that based on their investigation, Lim did not stop his illegal business after posting bail last month.

Based on the initial investigation of the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), the assailants tailed Lim from the South Road Properties (SRP) tunnel on board a motorcycle.

Just as Lim reached S. Osmeña Blvd., he was cornered by the assailants and was shot with a firearm of an undetermined caliber. The culprits then fled.

Seeing Lim wounded and bloodied, a traffic enforcer sought help from the police, who then rushed the victim to a private hospital.

Santander said they still have to investigate the motive of the shooting.

He said they will not discount the possibility that the attack had something to do with the illegal numbers business.

Lim and 23 of his workers were arrested by the CIB during a raid inside his house on Gen. Maxilom Ave. The operatives served a search warrant issued by the court.

Seized from Lim’s house were gambling paraphernalia such as tally sheets, tip sheets, photocopiers, nine fax machines and calculators. A firearm was also found hidden under a chair.